Natalie Cook, natalie.cook@sierraclub.org, 651-295-3483
Gabby Brown, gabby.brown@sierraclub.org, 914-261-4626
Bemidji, MN -- Today, local environmental and Indigenous advocates, faith leaders, Youth Climate Intervenors, and members of local tribes attended their first court appearance following an act of civil disobedience last month urging Governor Mark Dayton to stop Enbridge’s Line 3 tar sands pipeline.
If built, Line 3 would cross through critical ecological and cultural resources, threatening Minnesota’s land, clean water, Tribal sovereignty, and our climate. This summer, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission approved the pipeline, ignoring the opposition of four Tribal governments as well as the recommendations of the MN Department of Commerce, Office of Administrative Hearings, Pollutions Control Agency, and Department of Natural Resources.
“The PUC made an irresponsible decision when they approved Line 3, putting our clean water, our communities, and our climate at risk. We are going to continue to take every opportunity to call on Governor Dayton to do the right thing and protect Minnesota from this dangerous tar sands pipeline,” said Margaret Levin, director of the Sierra Club North Star Chapter.
“We are neighbors standing together against a PUC decision that ignored our input to the process,” added Scott Russell, Co-Chair of the Beyond Oil and Tar Sands Committee with the Sierra Club North Star Chapter.
“Honoring treaty rights requires a commitment to clean water and a safe environment,” said Dawn Goodwin, Anishinaabe, White Earth.
“Line 3 is focused on investment in the past,” said Interfaith Minister Tom Schmidt. “We need to invest in the future with sustainable energy.”
“When the system fails young people, we will stand for our rights,” said Youth Climate Intervenor Akilah Sanders-Reed.
Doug Rasch, a resident of Horsehill Gardens, Clearbrook, said, “We cannot afford the destruction of the pipeline construction bulldozers.”
In recent months, more than 20,000 activists have sent messages to Governor Dayton urging him to act immediately to stop Line 3.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, 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.