Minnesota Indigenous and Advocacy Leaders Take Direct Action in Continued Call on Governor Dayton to Stop Line 3

Bemidji, MN -- Today, Native and non-Native leaders were joined by national environmental advocates to urge Governor Mark Dayton to act immediately to stop Enbridge’s Line 3 tar sands pipeline.

Participants included Tribal elders, local environmental and Indigenous advocates and faith leaders, Youth Climate Intervenors, and national representatives from the Sierra Club. The group gathered to engage in an act of civil disobedience, occupying an intersection in downtown Bemidji in order to escalate the ongoing campaign against Line 3.

At the same time, a group sat-in at the governor’s office playing live-streamed video from the action in Bemidji in order to send a clear message to Governor Dayton that now is the time to take action and stop the pipeline.

**Photos from today’s action are available here**

The MN Public Utilities Commission voted in June to approve Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline, ignoring the recommendations of the MN Department of Commerce, Office of Administrative Hearings, Pollutions Control Agency, and Department of Natural Resources, and acting against the wishes of four Tribal governments and thousands of Minnesotans who participated in the PUC process in opposition to Line 3.

“The PUC made an irresponsible decision when they approved Line 3, putting our clean water, our communities, and our climate at risk. Now we are calling on Governor Dayton to act. It is time for him to protect Minnesota from this dangerous tar sands pipeline,” said Margaret Levin, director of the Sierra Club North Star Chapter.

“I am here to say, Bimaadiziwin Nibi. Water is Life,” said Winona LaDuke, Executive Director of Honor the Earth, who lives and works on the White Earth reservation in northern Minnesota. “I am here to say that our state should not be militarized and our people arrested and injured for a Canadian Pipeline Company. I am here because it is necessary to be here, to protect our Future Generations. I am a Water Protector.”

"As a network of Native Nations and grassroots Tribal communities throughout the United States, Canada and Alaska, the Indigenous Environmental Network stands with Tribal leaders of northern Minnesota who are risking arrest to defend their land, water, future generations and treaty rights,” said Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director of Indigenous Environmental Network. “Tribal governments and Minnesotans are telling Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton to take immediate action through Executive Order to halt all permits and any pre-construction of the proposed Enbridge Line 3 pipeline until legal appeals are heard, until the courts have fully weighed in, and the Minnesota Tribes have conducted through assessment and inventory of significant cultural and historical properties and sacred sites."

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For interviews with participants, contact Gabby Brown: gabby.brown@sierraclub.org. Additional statements from participants:

Loren Blackford is President of the Sierra Club: "Enbridge's Line 3 pipeline poses an unacceptable risk to Minnesota communities and our climate. I'm here today to represent millions of Sierra Club members and supporters in standing with our indigenous allies and sending a clear message to Governor Mark Dayton: stop this dirty tar sands pipeline."

Chelsea DeArmond, St. Paul MN350 leader and Luther Seminary graduate: “As a citizen of St. Paul in Dakota homelands, capital city of the Land of 10,000 lakes, I depend on the Mississippi River for drinking water like millions of other people downstream. I call on Governor Dayton to take a strong stand for clean water, indigenous rights, and climate justice by doing all that is in his power to oppose the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline and keep toxic tar sands oil out of our sensitive wetlands.”

Thomas Schmidt, Interfaith Minister in Bemidji, MN, volunteer member of  Bimi'ji 350: “Let us not invest in the outdated and decidedly dangerous technology of the past. Let us build a society and an economy that serves all people and works to heal the damage we have done to our environment. I have faith in the power of this movement to create a more just and sustainable society.”

Buff Grace, Rector of Episcopal Church of the Ascension: “How long will we humans aim for our destruction by fueling our carbon addiction?  Here is yet another chance to choose life for ourselves, our children and descendants, and our beloved land of Minnesota. At the very least, our Minnesota government has an obligation to honor its promises to the Anishinaabe and their request that this pipeline not violate their lands.”

Julia Nerbonne is the Executive Director at Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light: “Along with over 550 faith leaders who wrote a letter to the PUC standing against Line 3, I stand in in solidarity with native people of Minnesota and in Canada who have experienced the first and worst impacts of oil exploration and climate change.  Faith communities everywhere speak with a moral voice when we say the time has come to write a different story. We were disappointed by the failure of the Public Utilities Commission to understand treaty rights, and the failure to abide by the extensive record showing that Line 3 holds no benefit to the people of Minnesota.”

Akilah Sanders-Reed, one of the Youth Climate Intervenors (a group of young people who were granted legal standing as an official party in the PUC case): “As one of the Youth Climate Intervenors, I worked hard alongside twelve other incredibly dedicated young people over the last year and a half to participate in every stage of the PUC process. I’ve read the record, and I know the decision made by the PUC isn’t supported by the law, our state agencies, or the Minnesota public. I’m taking action because I’m not willing to stand by and watch five cowardly Commissioners turn their back on everyone who worked hard to uphold the process and expose Line 3 as a threat to our communities. I call on Governor Dayton to take action as well, and do everything in his power to stop Line 3.”

Isabel Watson is one of the Youth Climate Intervenors: “The PUC chose to protect the monetary gain of a corporation over the health of our communities and our future on this planet. I am calling on Governor Dayton to act on his values, protect our state, and keep tar sands in the ground.”

Kevin Whelan is Executive Director of MN350 and MN350 Action: “The Enbridge Line 3 tar sands pipeline is a threat to our communities, our water, indigenous treaty rights, and the climate that we all share.”

Brian PaStarr is a member of the MN350.org’s Pipeline Resistance Team: “I have been attending public meetings on the proposed Enbridge Line 3 for over a year.  The PUC went against the findings of both the Administrative Law Judge Ann O’Reilly, and the findings of the Department of Commerce.  Governor Dayton is a believer in leaving a legacy of clean water. Now is the time for him to protect those waters from a pipeline that will travel through many lakes as well as the Mississippi River.”

Scott Russell, Co-Chair, Beyond Oil and Tar Sands Committee, Sierra Club North Star Chapter: “By approving Enbridge Line 3, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) favored corporate interests over the state’s and nation’s long-term interests. Line 3 poses a major threat to Minnesota’s land, waters, wild rice, and indigenous rights. Line 3’s impact will extend well beyond our border, creating $287 billion in climate change costs in the coming decades. The PUC approved this Canadian pipeline project at a time the United States already is importing more crude oil than we need for domestic use. The United States is a net exporter of refined oil. We don’t need this project for energy security.“

Lois Norrgard, concerned citizen of Minnesota, volunteer member of Sierra Club North Star Chapter Executive Committee: “I believe climate change is a frightening outcome from the burning of fossil fuels, and tar sands oil is one of the worst sources. I stand with our Minnesota indigenous tribes and other northern communities, our wild rice, our waters, and our wildlife against this pipeline. I stand for moving to 100% clean and renewable energy sources. Our very planet depends on this.”

Kendall Mackey, 350.org Keep it in the Ground Campaigner: “For years, Minnesotans have been standing up to Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline and the threat it poses to the North Star State. This dirty tar sands project is another example of the fossil fuel industry’s disregard for tribal sovereignty, clean air and water, and the health and safety of communities and the climate. It’s time for Governor Dayton to show real climate leadership by listening to the people of Minnesota and stopping Line 3 for good.”