LANSING, MI - Today the Michigan Legislature passed HR 91, “A resolution to support President Trump’s policies to increase the nation’s energy infrastructure and security, which have facilitated emergency permitting for the Enbridge Line 5 project”. The resolution passed 58-48 along party lines.
The Army Corps of Engineers is already fast-tracking approval for the proposed Line 5 tunnel in response to the President’s “Energy Executive Order” - a construction project that would directly benefit a major Trump donor. This decision is being rushed through without regard for the immense risk to the Great Lakes and the people and businesses that rely on them. HR 91 - a non-binding resolution - is political theater that nevertheless does show that the majority party in the Michigan State House is more interested in appeasing their deep-pocketed donors in the fossil fuel industry than they are in protecting the Great Lakes from another Enbridge oil spill.
“Drawing down from fossil fuels rather than doubling down opens the door to innovation. We could invest in solutions that don't require further destruction of wetlands or endangered species or continue sickening communities on the front lines of these refineries. Propane providers have repeatedly confirmed that they can take over supply for the UP. Other existing pipelines can take over the transport of oil. Enbridge’s own lawyers admitted that likely fuel cost increases would be about 1 cent a gallon,” said Nichole Keway Biber, Clean Water Action Mid-Michigan Campaign Organizer. “This summer will be 15 years since the Line 6B pipeline spilled a million gallons in the Kalamazoo River, a pipeline Enbridge said was perfectly safe. When their own monitors said there was an issue, they increased the flow in response. That's who we're supposed to trust?”
“No agency has actually examined the environmental impacts of tunneling through the Great Lakes bottomlands in an area where we'd have explosion risks underneath an operating pipeline. This does not make the Great Lakes safer. This is not safer for Michigan's workers or for our Great Lakes. This actually makes things worse and makes things more risky with the Line 5 situation,” added Sean McBrearty, Michigan Director of Clean Water Action. “The plan at this point is for Michigan to take ownership of the project if this tunnel is built, relieving Enbridge of any liability. Studies show we could be seeing 4 to 6 billion dollars in damages from a spill, $46 billion in economic impacts from a 15-day shutdown of the Straits shipping lane - not to mention the invaluable ecological and cultural losses.”
“We ask that Governor Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy put the Great Lakes State above fossil fuel profit by rejecting this flawed, rushed, and dangerous project. Governor Whitmer and EGLE still have the power right now to protect our Great Lakes from the catastrophic plans of the fossil fuel industry.”
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Since our founding during the campaign to pass the landmark Clean Water Act in 1972, Clean Water Action has worked to win strong health and environmental protections by bringing issue expertise, solution-oriented thinking and people power to the table. Clean Water Action has over 135,000 members across the state. Through direct advocacy and education we organize Michigan residents to protect the Great Lakes and our water resources. Learn more at www.cleanwater.org/mi