350 Humboldt: Letter Writing Party, 7pm January 3, 2020

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85643874306?pwd=Tm1yeXJBVVhWMGt5ZjZXVTVYbGFoZz09

Join us or write on your own.

Write to support the Anishinaabe people in their fight against the Line 3 pipeline. Below is background information. Lawsuits have been filed, and we can write letters to Minnesota’s Democratic Governor who has been supportive at times.

Background

The Enbridge Line 3 replacement pipeline would carry Canadian tar sands oil, one of the most polluting fossil fuels in the world, to the shores of Lake Superior in Wisconsin, traveling on its way through the territory of the Indigenous Anishinaabe people, under more than 212 streams and impacting 730 acres of wetlands.

In anticipation of the replacement project, since the summer of 2018, members of the anti-pipeline Giniw Collective have occupied a small camp 200 yards from where the pipeline is set to be built. The camp has served as a space to practice Anishinaabe culture, with a garden and sweat lodge, but also as a site to train for direct action protests.

Line 3 has actually been operating for more than 50 years but is only able to run at about half capacity because of its age. Rather than retiring a pipeline that is on its way to being obsolete — as policymakers wake up to the severity of the climate crisis and energy markets turn away from fossil fuels — Enbridge, with the support of government regulators, is instead spending $7.5 billion to replace it.

In addition to the climate risk, opponents point to the likelihood that a pipeline leak could damage lakes where wild rice is harvested, a staple considered sacred by the Anishinaabe. If construction begins as planned, the Giniw camp will be a base for pipeline resistance. Already, project opponents have participated in “lockdowns” to Enbridge equipment to slow preparations for building.

More at: https://theintercept.com/2020/11/24/enbridge-line-3-pipeline-protests-minnesota/

Who to write

Office of Governor Tim Walz
130 State Capitol
75 Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155

 

You can write a regular letter or use the Governor’s online message service at: https://mn.gov/governor/contact/

Demands

1.         Stop surveillance and intimidation of native protesters

2.         Stop protecting the pipeline, and in particular stop harassing protestors with dogs, tear gas, water hoses, and private security infiltration.

3.         Close down the pipeline construction until the risk of Covid is minimal.

4.         Support the lawsuits opposing the pipeline ( see below for information about the lawsuits)

 

Lawsuits

 

https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2020/12/line-3-faces-new-legal-challenge-water-permit

 

https://apnews.com/article/technology-water-quality-wisconsin-superior-lawsuits-fd4cdebe87d46e45390ef5a7023ab556