Excerpted from a June 2018 sign-on letter published in the Star Tribune of Minneapolis
To Our Fellow Minnesotans,
Soon the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) will vote on the Line 3 piepline project proposed by Canadian corporation nbridge. It would be a new 36-inch tar sands oil pipline sending tar sands oil through the MIssissippi headwaters, sensitive wetlands, valued forests, and indigenous treaty lands on its way to Lake Superior.
Minnesota’s future matters more than Enbridge’s profit margin
Minnesota has some of the most pristine freshwater in the world. We are known for our lakes, our forests, our wetlands, our wild rice. We fish, we hunt, we camp, we farm, we love our outdoors. We should be protecting what we have, not putting it at risk so a Canadian company can turn a buck.
The premise of Line 3 is that we need more oil, that the industry must expand. That simply does not reflect our actual energy needs as we steadily become more efficient and focused on clean, renewable energy. Minnesota’s own Department of Commerce (DOC) recommended that the state reject the Line 3 project because Enbridege failed to show any potential Line 3 benefits that would outweigh risks. This new project would send the carbon pollution equivalent of 50 coal-fired plants into the atmosphere.
We will be left to deal with the effects of a spill. Enbridge has a terrible spill record, but its project proposal leaves spill liability to Minnesotans. Meanwhile, Enbridge fought in court to collect $55M it paid in taxes to Minnesota, and is pressuring some of our poorest counties to accept its new project.
Minnesota should respect tribal nations: Enbridge’s consultation with Anishinaabe tribes does not equal consent. Multiple directly impacted tribal nations have said no to Line 3. Over 500 religious leaders joined together asking the PUC to reject Line 3.
Clearly Enbridge knows many Minnesotans realize the company doesn’t have our best interests at heart: at the 11th hour Enbridge offered to remove the old Line 3 for some landowners instead of its original plan to leave it in the ground to rot, and said it will hire Native Americans to work on the new line. If Enbridge cares, it should put our state’s workers and labor unions to work removing the old Line 3 from private and tribal property and increase its renewables investment.
Administrative Law Judge Ann O’Reilly recommended against the pipeline route Enbridge wants. The thorough analysis of the DOC showed there is no need for a Line 3 on any route. There are already six Enbridge pipelines in Minnesota. Six is enough. Our state officials should listen to the DOC and the 68,000 comments submitted by Minnesotans against the project: 94% of written public comments are in opposition to Line 3.
We want the PUC process to work. We want it to work for Minnesota and for Anishinaabe people. All of us. The state should do what’s right and listen to the detailed analysis of the DOC and the wishes of citizens and tribes. It’s time to protect our water and climate for future generations. Deny Line 3.
Honor the Earth
Photos: Sarah LittleRedfeather of Honor the Earth
Signatories:
MN SENATE
MN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OTHER
Rebecca Otto, Minnesota State Auditor
Christopher Meyer, Minneapolis Park Board
John Hottinger, former MN Senate Majority Leader
Winona LaDuke, Honor the Earth
Mark Seeley, Professor Emeritus, University of Minnesota*
Kevin Whelan, MN350
Tara Houska, former advisor Native American Affairs for Senator Bernie Sanders
Margaret Levin, Sierra Club North Chapter
Kathryn Hoffman, Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy
Mark Schultz, Land Stewardship Project
Julia Frost Nerbonne, Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light
Monica Meyer, OutFront Minnesota
Rev. Curtiss DeYoung, Minnesota Council of Churches
Doran Schrantz, ISAIAH
Jaylani Hussein, Council on American-Islamic Relations – Minnesota (CAIR-MN)
Ronnie Cummins, Organic Consumers Association
James Reents, Northern Water Alliance
Duana Grage, Women’s March Minnesota
Sharon Day, Indigenous Peoples Task Force
Ann Manning, Women’s Congress for Future Generations
Rebecca Cramer, Northland Sustainable Solutions
Jean Ross, Vote Climate
Dave Logsdon, Veterans for Peace, Chapter 27
Shanai Matteson, Water Bar & Public Studio
Rev. Kelli Clement, First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis
Dallas Goldtooth, Indigenous Environmental Network
Dan McGrath, TakeAction Minnesota
Veronica Mendez, CTUL (Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha)
Emilia Gonzalez Avalos, Navigate/Unidos Minnesota
Francisco Segovia, COPAL (Comunidades Organizando el Poder y la Acción Latina)
Corrine Horowitz, Main Street Alliance in MN
Ellen Hadley, Indivisible North Metro
Scott Ickes, Minnesota Indivisible Alliance
Sean Goseiwski, Alliance for Sustainability
Jamie Harvie, Institute for a Sustainable Future
J.T. Hainer, Duluth for Clean Water
Pam Dowell, Itasca County Indivisible
Vicki Andrews, Grand Rapids Area Earth Circle
Kristin Dooley, Women Against Military Madness
Louise Erdrich, Auth – Birchbark Books and HarperCollins
Steve Morse, Executive Director, Minnesota Environmental Partnership
Carin Motz, Jewish Community Action
Supported By,
Michael Brune, Executive Director, Sierra Club
Bill McKibben & May Boeve, 350.org
Annie Leonard, Greenpeace USA
Patrick McCully, Rainforest Action Network
Wenonah Hauter, Food & Water Watch
Stephen Kretzmann, Oil Change International
Jennifer Krill, Earthworks
Lydia Avila, Power Shift Network
RL Miller, Climate Hawks Vote
Lauren Windsor, American Family Voices
Janet MacGillivray, Seeding Sovereignty
Kevin Hart, AFN Manitoba Regional Chief, Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion
Jane Kleeb, Bold Nebraska
Dave Davis, 350Kishwaukee
Deni Matthews, Save Our Illinois Land
Gina Ibarra, SE Side Coalition to Ban Petcoke
Dave Bleakney, Canadian Union of Postal Workers/Syndicat des travailleurs et travailleuses des postes
Carolyn Raffensperger, Science and Environmental Health Network*
*Organization listed for identification purposes only