250 people rally at Governor Tim Walz’s home to demand he #StopLine3...or we will!
Indigenous Water Protectors passionately speak about honoring the treaties, protecting communities from man camps, and defending the land that takes care of us.
Group Cites Peak Covid Cases in State, Threats to Natives, Increases in Greenhouse Gases
ALL 12 MEMBERS OF THE MINNESOTA POLLUTION CONTROL AGENCY’S ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ADVISORY GROUP RESIGN IN PROTEST OVER PCA’S APPROVAL OF LINE 3 PERMITS LAST WEEK, CALLING IT A “WAR ON BLACK AND BROWN PEOPLE” – AND A STAB AT SHORT-TERM JOBS
Former advisory members point to Michigan Governor’s recent move to shut down Line 5 over safety, climate
Callaway, Minn., -- November 17, 2020 – With Covid-19 cases spiking in small rural Native and non-Native communities where healthcare resources are already strained*, and the additional real threats to Native communities and increases in greenhouse gasses associated with Line 3 in northern Minnesota, the entire Environmental Justice Advisory Group (ELAG) of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has resigned over the agency’s permit approvals for the line last week.
The 13 members – including many Native leaders – sent a strongly worded letter to MPCA Commissioner Laura Bishop (See attached). They criticized the agency’s failure to do its job of protecting Minnesota’s natural resources and its people while pointing out that the economic gain from short-term jobs is not viable. The advisory group also pointed to recent actions by Michigan Governor Whitmer to shut down Line 5, noting the parallel safety and climate concerns over Line 3 at a time when the tar sand oil industry is failing and climate change threats remain imminent.
We see your man camps. We see your machines. We see your lies. We see your poison and theft from the future to line your pockets.
Minnesota just approved the final water crossing permits for Enbridge’s Line 3. Business as usual, corporate bullies shove their way through the process.
It’s up to us, Mother Earth needs us all! Always has been, always will be.
The EJAG wrote:
In light of your recent decision to approve the Line 3 401 water crossings permit, several members of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s (MPCA) Environmental Justice Advisory Group (EJAG) are submitting our collective and public resignation. After much discussion, we cannot continue to legitimize and provide cover for the MPCA’s war on black and brown people.
The Line 3 pipeline will cross over 200 bodies of water, inevitably poisoning rivers, wetlands, and wild rice beds. It will emit as many greenhouse gases as running 50 new coal plants 24 hours a day. If we were to get every other sector in our state to carbon neutral, we wouldn’t be able to offset the added emissions this pipeline will bring. This pipeline threatens further spread of COVID-19 when we are experiencing peak cases and hospitalizations in our state.
Line 3 will mean violated treaty rights, heightened risk of sexual trafficking and sexual violence, and an insult to the three tribal nations that strongly oppose its construction. Any perceived economic benefits are extremely short-term. When Michigan’s Governor is cancelling Enbridge’s Line 5, and oil and gas prices are dropping while the cost of carbon emissions is *quickly rising, it is obvious that Line 3 is a poor economic choice for Minnesota’s working and middle classes.
The decision to approve the permit sends a clear message that the Walz Administration and the MPCA hold no regard for the well-being of Minnesotans or our relatives around the world, who depend on us to dramatically, rapidly, and justly transition our economies away from fossil fuels.
This is the final straw after increasing disappointment in the MPCA’s failure to build on the hard work of dedicated EJAG members over the years. The transition to a new commissioner has set back the EJAG’s work, and the EJAG has since been excluded from important decisions that affect how the group is managed. EJAG members were not consulted on the hiring of an outside facilitator, nor on the divvying of group members into work groups. EJAG members have also experienced dismissal, being discouraged from sharing honest thoughts and opinions. This is not how an advisory group should be engaged to appropriately respect the wisdom being sought.
When discussing the Line 3 decision, Commissioner Bishop told an EJAG member to not make something “personal,” when Line 3 is personal in every way imaginable. How can precious water, indigenous dignity, and children’s futures not be personal? We are disappointed in the failure to honor the time that we all contribute. While we have seen small actions taken internally to improve understanding, measures, and culture in the agency, our communities demand action and this agency cannot claim to promote justice without results that improve our lives.
For more information – or to interview Winona LaDuke or other members from the Advisory Group – please contact Martin Keller, Media savant Communications, 612-729-8585, mkeller@mediasavantcom.com
TOGETHER UNITED WE WILL STOP LINE 3