May 19 deadline to submit concerns about new Line 3 abandonment
By Lee Egerstrom Environmental groups and people possibly affected should the new Enbridge Energy Line 3 pipeline across northern Minnesota be abandoned are asking neighbors to express their concerns to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) by a May 19 deadline. The group, formed as Minnesotans for Pipeline Cleanup, specifically wants Minnesota authorities to set […]
Line 3 drilling under more than 20 river crossings sees more protests
Photos/text by Chris Trinh / Environmental Indigenous Network Enbridge, a Canadian multinational company, is constructing its Line 3 oil pipeline across Anishinaabe land in northern Minnesota to carry tar sands from Alberta, Canada to Superior, WI. An indigenous-led movement has been ongoing for years, with protests ramping up this past summer as drilling under 20 […]
What are the treaties being invoked by Line 3 opponents?
By Yasmine Askari / MinnPost While the U.S. government signed a series of treaties with the Anishinaabe people, including the Ojibwe, between 1825 and 1867, the most significant are those of 1837, 1854 and 1855. Tribal council representatives and members of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe will be gathered at the Minnesota Capitol in […]
Indigo Girls and Line 3 activists host Protect the Water concert
By Jim Walsh / MINNPost Amy Ray spoke for many of the 100 or so Indigo Girls fans and human rights activists gathered on the shore of the Haha Wakpa (Mississippi) river in northern Minnesota on June 28th when she said, “This is the coolest thing we’ve ever done.” Flanked by her fellow Indigo Girl […]
The Water Protector Spring is coming
By Winona LaDuke Are you going to shoot us for a Canadian pipeline company? Or put another way, if this pipeline is such a good idea, why are there so many cops up north? The Minneapolis Star Tribune just revealed that Enbridge has laid out $750,000 to northern police forces, not counting an undisclosed number […]
Tribal Nations in MN ask Walz to pause Line 3 work during legal appeal
By Dan Kraker/MPR The Minnesota Indian Affairs Council is asking Gov. Tim Walz to temporarily stop the ongoing construction of the Line 3 oil pipeline across northern Minnesota. In a letter dated Feb 25, the group, which serves as the official liaison between the state and the 11 Native nations within its borders, urged Walz […]
Winter Count: Mississippi River
By Winona Laduke November 20. 2020: Army Corps of Engineers issues 404 permits to cross waters of Minnesota, based on the findings of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. The Army Corps did not do an environmental impact statement on the water crossings, or potential of a spill into Lake Superior, instead relying upon the state’s […]
Ojibwe bands ask for halt on Line 3 construction
By Dan Kraker/MPR The Red Lake and White Earth Bands of Ojibwe have asked the Minnesota Court of Appeals to pause the ongoing construction of the Line 3 oil pipeline replacement project until lawsuits challenging the project’s approval can be heard. The bands, along with several nonprofit groups and the Minnesota Department of Commerce, have […]
Pipelines: How risky do you wanna be?
By Winona LaDuke Minnesota’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) continues to be an embarrassment to state regulatory authorities, slogging ahead with what we might call the last tar sands pipeline. On June 25, Little Big Horn Day, the PUC reaffirmed approvals of the Enbridge Line 3 project- route and need. The White Earth Nation, Red Lake […]
The last tar sands pipeline
By Winona LaDuke In early June, I traveled to Enbridge’s Shareholder meeting in Calgary, in Alberta Canada. Outside, laid off oil workers screamed, “Build that Pipe” over a bullhorn, and asked people to honk if they supported Canadian oil. Those tar sands workers will likely never have jobs in the industry again – economists, and […]
White Earth and Red Lake join with DoC to appeal Pipeline
By Winona LaDuke On Dec. 21, the Department of Commerce joined the White Earth and Red Lake Nations and environmental groups in the Minnesota Court of Appeals. The plaintiffs are asking the Court to overturn the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) decision to grant a Certificate of Need for Line 3. If the certificate of […]
Oil, Water and the Judges
By Winona LaDuke The Husky Oil Refinery’s catastrophic spill and fire in Superior, Wisc. on April 26th points to the problem of oil and water. With immense gratitude for the firefighters who extinguished the tar sands oil fire, we are alive. They were able to stop the fire before it spread to the tank of […]