The Squad visited Bemidji on Labor Day Weekend to protest the Line 3 pipeline that is nearing completion. Representatives Ilhan Omar (D-05-MN), Cori Bush (D-01-MO), Ayanna Pressley (D-07-MA), Rashida Tlaib (D-13-MI), and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-14-NY), who was “with them in spirit,” visited Minnesota to express their displeasure with the Enbridge Pipeline.
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Representative Ilhan Omar (D-05-MN) wrote a letter to the Biden Administration asking for “urgent intervention” regarding the Line 3 pipeline that has been under construction for months. Omar says that there have been “concerning violations of treaty rights” in the recent weeks.
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Demonstrators at the Minnesota capitol erected teepees and reportedly burned a ceremonial fire during a Stop Line 3 protest. Protesters had been occupying capitol grounds until Friday evening, despite their event permit being up Thursday evening at 10:00 p.m.
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Stop Line 3 activists have gotten a restraining order against Hubbard County Sheriff Cory Aukes after activist Winona LaDuke was arrested last week during a protest.
LaDuke is the leader of Honor the Earth, an environmental group that has been protesting Line 3.
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Winona LaDuke, the leader of the Honor the Earth environmental group was arrested along with six other women while protesting the Line 3 pipeline. As was reported on WCCO, three of the arrested water protectors “locked down one of Enbridge’s drills on Tuesday morning, halting drilling under the Shell River.” The women are facing trespassing charges. These arrests bring the total number of protesters arrested to over 600.
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According to Hubbard County Sheriff Cory Aukes, many of the over 300 Line 3 protesters they have arrested have been bailed out by people bringing in bags of cash. Aukes said, “Time and time again, a protester makes a phone call and someone shows up with a duffel bag full of cash to bail them out. A bag full of $100 bills; in fact, $52,000 on one occasion. That is a lot of cash to be carrying around in a duffel bag.”
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Anti-Line 3 protests have continued as the project has been given a go-ahead by Minnesota government. Last weekend, 31 more protesters were arrested after they were blocking a highway and chaining themselves to equipment on an active work site.
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A Native American man who owns a construction company, Gordon Construction, spoke out against those who destroyed his equipment and claimed to speak for Native Americans. Matt Gordon, a Native American, owns one of the construction companies contracted to help finish the Line 3 project, a pipeline carrying oil from Canada into the United States.
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The Minnesota Court of Appeals voted 2-1 on Monday to continue with the Line 3 replacement project, despite protests drawing over 1,000 people. Judge Lucinda Jesson stated that, “With an existing, deteriorating pipeline carrying crude oil through Minnesota, there was no option without environmental consequences.”
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The Northern Lights Task Force in Minnesota arrested several people protesting Line 3 last weekend. Comments on social media led officers to believe that the protesters would be trying to confront law enforcement, leading to the arrest of up to 1,000 people.
The Northern Lights Task Force said in an official statement, “Many protesters did not abide by the law and engaged in actions that forced the hand of law enforcement and dispersal orders were given.”
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Activists from out of state will be coming to Minnesota to protest the Line 3 pipeline. On a Facebook post from Minnesotans for Line 3, they write that “Minnesota will soon be hosting some visitors in early June, including Chris Balch from New Hampshire.”
According to the Monadnock Ledger, “Chris Balch of Wilton and Kai Parlett of Manchester are among New Hampshire residents who are making the trip to Northern Minnesota on the weekend of June 5 to participate in the ongoing protests against the construction of the pipeline.”
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The U.S Army Corp of Engineers (ACE) on Monday issued Enbridge its final federal construction permit for its $2.6 billion Line 3 oil pipeline.
Calgary-based Enbridge could begin construction as early as next month, a project expected to create 4,200 construction jobs and inject millions of dollars into Northern Minnesota.
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The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday overturned a portion of the environmental impact study of Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 oil pipeline replacement project. The court’s ruling is available here. The ruling says: Although we reject most of realtors’ assertions of error, we agree that the FEIS is inadequate because it does not address the potential impact of an oil spill into the Lake Superior watershed. Accordingly, we reverse the commission’s adequacy determination and remand for further proceedings consistent with this decision. FEIS refers to the final Environmental Impact Statement. Enbridge in April 2015 applied for a certificate of need and routing permit to install of 337 miles of pipe and facilities from the North Dakota-Minnesota border to the Minnesota-Wisconsin border to replace the already existing Line 3, part of Enbridge’s Mainline System, the court said. Environmental organizations and tribal bands had challenged a decision made last year by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) which found the FEIS was adequate, the court said. However, the court also upheld most of the environmental impact statement and dismissed most of the opponents’ arguments, Minnesota Public Radio said. The rejected arguments included claims that the study didn’t take into account the…
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St. Paul’s popular Black Dog Cafe regularly hosts resistance groups formed in response to President Donald Trump’s 2016 election for political events. A collection of groups calling themselves “The MNLeg Coalition” meet once a month for a “Third Thursdays” event that provides the “progressive-values loving community” a chance to “come together, socialize, strategize, learn, and recharge to continue the good fight for justice and equality in Minnesota.” The coalition says that it is “made up of political resistance groups that started after the 2016 election.” According to the group’s website, at least four of these gatherings have taken place at Black Dog Cafe, including a February 21 event on “climate policy in Minnesota.” “Climate policy in Minnesota is having a moment—and not a moment too soon. Come hear from a range of experts and activists on the statewide movement to save our climate. Learn more about what’s at stake, what’s next, and what we can do locally to stop the damage being done to our climate,” a mailer for Thursday’s event states. Speakers included activists from the 100 Percent Campaign, a group seeking 100 percent renewable energy in Minnesota, as well as MN350, whose representative spoke on resisting the Enbridge…
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Republican members of the Minnesota House and Senate called a joint press conference earlier this week to condemn Gov. Tim Walz’s (D-MN) decision to re-appeal the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline replacement project. “The science is sure that this would be environmentally much safer to replace a 51-year-old pipe with a new pipe, so on every issue there he was wrong,” Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka (R-Nisswa) said in response to Walz’s announcement. “Lawsuits and appeals do not have to be part of the process, and normally shouldn’t be part of the process.” Walz announced Tuesday morning that he would refile an appeal against the controversial project after an appeal submitted by his predecessor, former Gov. Mark Dayton (D-MN), was dismissed by the Minnesota Court of Appeals. “Walz and [Lt. Gov. Peggy] Flanagan are the only ones left in the state that need clarity on this project. It has met every test,” Gazelka added. “Delays are not fair to the workers that want these jobs. Frankly, Gov. Walz, on this issue you’re not listening. This is an issue we’ve had a lot of conversation about. It needs to go forward, and there’s a lot of people that are very upset that…
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Several youth activism organizations gathered at the Minnesota Capitol Monday to protest the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline and call for a “Minnesota Green New Deal.” “We are changing the political landscape in Minnesota and although there is much more work to be done, we are so proud of what we have done. Youth voices matter, and we will continue to make that very clear to our state leaders this session,” a group called “Minnesota Can’t Wait” said in a statement. Video from Monday’s demonstration shows dozens of youth activists gathered in the State Capitol, holding signs that say, “We elected you, meet with us,” and “Minnesota Green New Deal.” “Even though they are not here right now, we’re going to make sure that they hear our message and that they hear our words, because they have to listen to us as public servants serving the state of Minnesota,” one speaker said during the event, referring to Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) and Lt. Gov Peggy Flanagan (D-MN). The following morning, Walz announced that he would refile an appeal against the Enbridge Line 3 replacement project, as The Minnesota Sun reported. “We are extremely glad that the governor has acknowledged the importance…
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Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) announced Tuesday morning that he would refile an appeal against the controversial Enbridge Line 3 replacement project. Minnesota’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) unanimously approved of granting Enbridge a certificate of need to move forward with the project last summer. But former Gov. Mark Dayton (D-MN) made a last-minute appeal of the project through his Department of Commerce before leaving office. Dayton’s appeal was dismissed by the Minnesota Court of Appeals on February 5 because the court found that his petition was made “prematurely.” That decision granted Walz 20 days to decide between refiling the appeal or allowing the project to move forward. On Tuesday, Walz announced that he would follow his predecessor in petitioning the project. “Today, [Department of Commerce] will petition the PUC to reconsider its decision on the Enbridge Line 3 Pipeline Replacement Project, continuing a process begun by the Dayton administration,” Walz said in a statement. “Projects that impact our environment and economy must follow the process, the law, and the science.” Walz went on to say that projects “like these don’t just need a building permit to go forward, they also need a social permit.” “Over the past month, my administration has…
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Climate activists are continuing to pressure Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) against approving Enbridge’s Line 3 replacement pipeline, and on Thursday protested in the governor’s reception room of the Minnesota State Capitol. In November, the Public Utilities Commission unanimously voted in favor of green lighting the project, but former Gov. Mark Dayton’s (D-MN) Department of Commerce filed a last minute lawsuit to prevent the project from moving forward. Since his inauguration, activists have been following Walz everywhere he goes, and disrupted both his inaugural reception at the State Capitol and inaugural ball a few days later. A group called Science for the People joined the fight Thursday, and told Walz during a protest that allowing the project to move forward would be the equivalent of “climate change denial.” “If Gov. Walz truly wants to consult the science, we, as scientists, unequivocally state that forwarding fossil fuels infrastructure will have disastrous implications for Minnesota’s ecosystems, agriculture and economy,” Science for the People said in a statement before its Thursday protest. “Building Line 3 is climate change denial.” Christy Dolph, a University of Minnesota professor, encouraged her fellow scientists Thursday to “prevent ‘science’ from being used as cover for cowardly political decisions.” “We…
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