Many activists and media outlets across the U.S. remain focused on the controversial revived Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, which in late November received final approval for construction from Nebraska state regulators, albeit with a very different route than the one the company wanted, so it’s unclear if it will ever be built.
Meanwhile, another proposed pipeline would also carry tar sands – 760,000 barrels per day – from northern Alberta, across the Canadian/U.S. border just over a thousand miles into North Dakota, across Minnesota and into Wisconsin, from where most of the oil will be shipped abroad. This is the $7 billion so-called Line 3 replacement pipeline – the largest project ever undertaken by the Canadian company Enbridge, which will almost double the capacity of the existing pipeline.
This proposed pipeline has proceeded mostly under the radar, partly because it doesn’t need presidential approval like Keystone, as it’s considered a replacement and secured a presidential waiver when the original pipeline was built. But local opposition has been strong, especially in Minnesota where the company’s preferred route crosses many lakes where indigenous people harvest wild rice, which has tremendous cultural as well as nutritional importance. Between The Lines’ Radio’s Melinda Tuhus spoke with Mysti Babineau, a member of the Red Lake band of Chippewa, where she works with the Minnesota chapter of 350.org and the indigenous group, Honor the Earth. Here she explains why an indigenous and environmental coalition oppose the construction of the Line 3 Pipeline.
For more information, visit 350.org at 350.org and 350.org Minnesota at 350mn.org.
