Lee Ziesche, lee.ziesche@sierraclub.org
Media Advisory: Thursday, March 21 @ 12:00PM (EST) in Cincinnati, Ohio
Indigenous and Environmental Advocates Rally with Michigan Attorney General
Dana Nessel Ahead of Oral Arguments on Dangerous Line 5 Pipeline
Livestream on YouTube and on the Oil & Water Don’t Mix Website
Cincinnati, Ohio - Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel will speak at a rally before her office delivers oral arguments at the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court for her case against Canadian oil giant Enbridge and its Line 5 crude oil pipeline.
The Attorney General’s lawsuit, Nessel vs Enbridge, was originally filed in 2019 in the Ingham County Court and sought an order to shut down and decommission the aging oil pipeline through the Straits of Mackinac. Enbridge successfully removed the case from state to federal court. Nessel filed a motion to move the case back to state court, which over 60 Tribal Nations support.
Who: The rally is being organized by Oil and Water Don’t Mix, a group of organizations and citizens in Michigan working to protect the Great Lakes and shut down Enbridge’s Line 5 Pipeline. Two busloads of activists will travel from Michigan to Cincinnati for the rally. Speakers include:
Dana Nessel, Michigan Attorney General
Andrea Pierce, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians citizen and Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition
Sean McBrearty, Oil & Water Don’t Mix
David Holtz, Sierra Club Board of Directors
What: Rally to showcase the critical importance of allowing Michigan to protect the Great Lakes from a dangerous oil pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac.
When: Thursday, March 21 @ 12:00pm (EST)
Where: Fountain Square at the flagpole - 520 Vine Street, Cincinnati, Ohio (map) at E. Fifth Street
Why: The Sixth Circuit Court's decision will determine whether or not Michigan's future is shaped by Michigan courts and Michigan people. The future of America's Most Dangerous Oil Pipeline is at a crossroads, and we stand at a pivotal moment in the fight to protect Indigenous Sovereignty, the Great Lakes, and our climate.
The rally comes less than a week after the film “Bad River” opened across the country in AMC theaters. This powerful new documentary weaves the long history of resistance to settler colonialism of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa with the Band’s current fight to shut down Enbridge’s Line 5 oil pipeline on their sovereign land, turning the eyes of the nation to Michigan and Wisconsin.
The 645-mile, 71-year-old Line 5 oil pipeline operates illegally through the Bad River Band's land in northern Wisconsin. It continues in the open water through the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan, where the pipeline pose an equally devastating risk of rupture.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, 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.