The following statement can be attributed to Sean McBrearty, Michigan Program Organizer, Clean Water Action:
“Clean Water Action welcomes Governor Inslee's statement on the future of Enbridge Energy’s Line 5 pipeline, and the detrimental climate impacts of continued reliance on Line 5. When the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has raised the somber fact that we have less than twelve years to decarbonize our economy in order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we can’t waste time building an oil tunnel through the heart of the Great Lakes. We should focus on rapidly expanding renewable energy and the jobs that come along with it instead of risking our children’s futures by continuing to rely on outdated planet-killing fossil fuels.
We can’t bear the risk to our Great Lakes associated with the continued operation of Line 5, and we can’t bear the risk to our planet associated with continued reliance on fossil fuels. We call on Michigan lawmakers, as well as all other presidential candidates to stand with Governor Inslee by supporting Attorney General Nessel and Governor Whitmer’s efforts to decommission the Line 5 pipeline without an oil tunnel replacement.”
###
Since our founding during the campaign to pass the landmark Clean Water Act in 1972, Clean Water Action has worked to win strong health and environmental protections by bringing issue expertise, solution-oriented thinking and people power to the table. Clean Water Action is Michigan’s largest grassroots conservation group with over 250,000 members across the state. Through direct advocacy and education we organize Michigan residents to protect the Great Lakes and our water resources.