LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is shutting down Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline, citing multiple violations by the company of the 1953 easement with the state, along with a duty to protect the Great Lakes.
The decommissioning and removal of Enbridge’s old Line 3 oil pipeline would be a shovel-ready project that would help Minnesota move forward after the pandemic crisis abates. As Minnesotans, we should spare ourselves the upheaval that would result if Enbridge begins to lay any new pipe. Markets are recoiling from the Canadian tar sands collapse. And the long-term threats of climate change aren’t going away, even as Enbridge’s plans for a replacement Line 3 continue to divide the state.
