Gabby Brown, gabby.brown@sierraclub.org
Today, Canadian oil company Enbridge announced that tar sands oil will start flowing through the Line 3 pipeline this Friday. If allowed to continue operating, the pipeline will carry 760,000 barrels per day of the dirtiest oil on the planet from Alberta, Canada to Superior, Wisconsin, running through more than 200 bodies of water along the way, including the headwaters of the Mississippi River and lakes in northern Minnesota where Native Americans harvest wild rice and hold treaty rights.
Originally proposed in 2014 as a replacement for an aging existing pipeline, the new Line 3 -- which is twice as large and travels along a new route -- has faced fierce opposition in Minnesota because of the threat it poses to clean water, Indigenous rights, and the climate. Enbridge originally planned to have the pipeline operational in 2019 but was delayed by grassroots opposition and legal challenges. A challenge to the Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to issue a key water-crossing permit is still pending in federal court. In issuing the permit, the Corps failed to consider the pipeline’s impacts on the climate and on Indigenous rights. A victory for pipeline opponents in this case could send the Corps back to the drawing board on its environmental review and shut down operation of the pipeline in the meantime.
To date, more than 900 Indigenous-led water protectors have been arrested or cited for protesting the construction of Line 3 in Minnesota. Peaceful protesters have been surveilled, shot at with rubber bullets, and tear gassed. Police have made violent arrests and once in custody, many have faced solitary confinement and been denied medical care. Protesters have been hit with extreme charges including felony theft and felony aiding attempted suicide.
Sierra Club North Star Chapter Director Margaret Levin released the following statement:
“President Biden and the other politicians who chose to do nothing as treaty rights were violated, waterways were polluted, and peaceful protesters were brutalized have placed themselves on the wrong side of history. We will continue to seek to hold them accountable for failing to prioritize the best interests of our communities over the desires of a foreign oil company.
“This is not the outcome we hoped for, but the fight to stop Line 3 has always been a fight for climate justice and a future free from fossil fuels, and that fight will not stop just because Enbridge has succeeded in building this pipeline. Our movement is powerful, and we are not going anywhere. We will keep pushing forward -- demanding that our elected leaders live up to their promises and lifting our voices for healthy and safe communities and climate justice.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.