June 25, 2021

Bill McKibben, New York Times

“Indigenous and environmental activists fighting against the Line 3 tar sands pipeline were outraged Thursday after the Biden administration filed a legal brief backing the federal government’s 2020 approval of the project under former President Donald Trump.

“Critics of the project—which Canadian energy giant Enbridge has undertaken to replace an aging oil pipeline—blasted the U.S. Department of Justice’s late Wednesday filing (pdf) as a betrayal of President Joe Biden’s pledges to address the climate emergency and respect tribal rights.”

Among those denouncing the DOJ’s complicity was Winona LaDuke, executive director of Honor the Earth: 

“This is a racist pipeline project forced down the throats of our people, an ecological time bomb and a giveaway to a Canadian multinational oil interest. If the president is genuine in his pledge to take climate justice and tribal rights seriously, his administration must stop defending the Trump administration’s decision and undertake a genuine analysis of Line 3’s environmental and human impacts.”  Read full article here

Earlier, Bill McKibben, arguing against the renewal of Line 3, compared this project to the defeated Keystone pipeline: 

“Call Line 3 Keystone, the Sequel.

“If Keystone failed the climate test, how could Line 3, with an initial capacity of 760,000 barrels a day, possibly pass? It’s as if the oil industry turned in an essay, got a failing grade, ignored every comment and then turned in the same essay again — except this time it was in ninth grade, not fourth. It’s not like the climate crisis has somehow improved since 2015 — it’s obviously gotten far worse. At this point, approving Line 3 would be absurd.”  Read full article here

And, finally, here is a story-telling video from Sherri Mitchell, Wabanaki author and activist leader, reminding us of the essential lessons of nature. To survive, we must listen. View video