Enbridge Line 3 Public Hearings

Tags

activism

The Administrative Law Judge in the case filed by Friends of the Headwaters against Enbridge is currently hearing Public Comments and our chance to speak in Bemidji happens tomorrow.  So while Dan and I had a really wonderful trip out to Missoula and to Denver to visit Tom and Celia, we had to cut our trip short to be home in time to prepare our remarks for and attend the Public Hearing.  [The blog on the adventures out West will follow this week’s timely topic.]

I decided that my focus for the Public Hearing will be on the fact that we cannot afford to pull any more fossil fuels out of the ground.  We need to leave most of what remains in the ground if we hope to have a planet that is livable for humans in the long run.  Here is what I plan to present:

In 2012, Bill McKibben wrote an article entitled “Do the Math” to simplify the then current situation with regard to fossil fuels on Planet Earth.  He explained that, if 2°C is the maximum we can increase global temperature and maintain a livable planet, we could only put 565 more gigatons of CO₂ into the atmosphere. At that time we had 2,795 gigatons of carbon in proven coal and oil and gas reserves meaning we were planning to burn 5 TIMES the amount that would allow us to maintain a planet which supports life for humans.

Fast forward to 2016 for Bill’s update article entitled “Recalculating the Climate Math” after a study by Oil Change International in partnership with 14 organizations from around the world recommended three things: 1) No new fossil fuel extraction or transportation infrastructure should be built and governments should grant no new permits for them. 2) Some fields and mines – primarily in rich countries – should be closed before fully exploiting their resources, and financial support should be provided for non-carbon development in poorer countries. 3) This does not mean stopping using all fossil fuels overnight. Governments and companies should conduct a managed decline of the fossil fuel industry and ensure a just transition for the workers and communities that depend on it.

Bill concluded: If we’re serious about preventing catastrophic warming, the new study shows, we can’t dig any new coal mines, drill any new fields, build any more pipelines. Not a single one. We’re done expanding the fossil fuel frontier. Our only hope is a swift, managed decline in the production of all carbon-based energy from the fields we’ve already put in production.

Meanwhile, we’re finding that the effects of increasing CO₂ are far worse than predicted.  You may have noticed the increasing ferocity of Hurricanes and Forest Fires which are not only devastating infrastructure but also killing more and more people.  Scientists now agree a more reasonable target for maximum global temperature rise is 1.5°C which will require significantly less fossil fuel usage in order to maintain a livable atmosphere.

The state of Minnesota has been a leader in this nation, more recently with decisions on gay marriage and health care.  As ideas and opinions change over time, in the end, Time reveals what is best and true for our country.  Scientific development often leads the way and the science is telling us the era of fossil fuels is over.  We need to abandon pipeline efforts in Minnesota and focus on the true future of our nation and our world, conservation and energy alternatives. The future is NOT fossil fuels. Every week we hear of another car company vowing to build only electric vehicles in the very near future; another major user marching away from the fossil fuel industry.

Minnesotans already lead in reduced greenhouse gas emissions by having more E85 refueling stations than any other state.  Minnesota is also a leader in wind power generating over 9% of our electricity with this renewable resource.  Let’s keep growing our alternative energies and be a leader in abandoning the dying fossil fuel industry by saying “NO to Line 3”, “NO” to Enbridge.

Dan’s focus will be on jobs.  There has been a lot of propaganda in the papers regarding the number of jobs that Line 3 will provide but we’re finding that Enbridge’s own numbers contradict what is being promoted by Jobs for Minnesotans which is a lobbying group consisting of the MN Building and Construction Trades Council and the MN Chamber of Commerce.  Their website states: “Combining the state’s rich heritage in natural resources with modern technology and workforce expertise, mining and energy transportation projects can significantly increase jobs and economic development for the state while protecting Minnesota’s water and great outdoors.”  However, their focus seems to be on mineral extraction and energy transport with the environment being an afterthought, if truly given any consideration at all.

In fact, there was a study – requested by Apex, a local business booster – and conducted by University of Minnesota Duluth Labovitz School of Business and Economics, that says of itself: “The study… looked only at the economic impact of the project and gave the caveat that ‘this analysis does not consider the social or environmental impacts of the project and should not be viewed as a cost-benefit analysis or environmental impact assessment.’”  So, it’s clear that they cherry-pick the data to give a good economical showing for these projects while ignoring the more important social and environmental aspects.  I believe most citizens would agree that clean water and air and fair treatment of all citizens, not giving some more protections than others, are far more important than mere money… especially when that money is primarily going to big corporations and not us everyday citizens.  Fun Fact: The best part of the Study to read is Appendix C which describes the assumptions used by the software, most of which are not applicable to a real-world economy.

It was interesting to note that Enbridge only claims 1500 construction jobs will be created while local papers quote figures like 4200, half of which will be local jobs, or even as high as 8600!  Regardless, much of the work will be temporary with only a handful of permanent jobs resulting from the pipeline installation (I believe 31 was the final number I saw).  Interestingly, calculations made using Enbridge’s own estimates show ~8300 job would be generated to remove the old Line 3, 5.5X the jobs of construction!  If we also consider the three additional pipelines that will become obsolete in the near term, we can look at 20X the number of jobs in removing the old energy transport infrastructure than we get in constructing the pipeline.  Removal is where the jobs are, not construction.

Some say that this is a done deal… that Enbridge has already lined the proper pockets and the PUC will grant the Certificate of Need and the Route Permit so Enbridge can connect the already constructed pieces on either side of Minnesota.  Even though the Department of Commerce has officially  noted that Enbridge has not demonstrated a Need for the line. There is a piece of me that has listened to the ALJ Hearings to date online and has little hope.  To hear the Administrative Law Judge Ann O’Reilly thanking people for their comments, often in a condescending or sing-song type voice, doesn’t seem to convey the respect for the public that she might be hoping to portray.

What gives me hope?  In a 10-9-17 presentation, the following was presented as a Summary of Commerce Testimony:

• Enbridge testimony indicates continued operation of existing Line 3 if a CN is not granted despite extensive testimony about the risks of continued operation;
• To date, Enbridge has not demonstrated need for the proposed project;
• The PUC could determine that Enbridge has not demonstrated that the minimal benefits to Minnesota of the proposed project outweigh the high socioeconomic and environmental costs.

I guess at this point, we need to provide our testimony and then just wait and see what happens in 2018.

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Serendipity

Tags

communication

So I love how things just “happen” in life at what seems like just the right time and in a totally unexpected way.  I do think you have to keep your eyes open to see them coming but sometimes they are just real obvious.  And sometimes you have to reach out to capitalize on them when serendipitous moments arise.

This past month I worked the Hostel and there was a great young lady there.  She was reading a book about intentional living and so I mentioned to her that I was trying to live more intentionally.  I basically said that my husband and I had decided to move to the woods and live more sustainably and simply and that we were “happier than ever”.  A couple hours later, she stopped by the office and said something like, “I’ve been thinking about what you said earlier about being happier than ever…”  So I said, “Let’s sit and chat awhile.”  Here she is, considering life and how she really wants to live it and she runs into someone who has decided for themselves how to make this transition to a more meaningful life and was available to chat.

We spent the next hour and a half talking about all kinds of things.  I learned about her world travels, her work experiences, her family and I shared about my life today, some of what led me to where I am, and some of the challenges to making this shift in life.  It was a fun and fulfilling conversation and I applaud her for having the gumption to reach out to me and ask for more on an idea that intrigued her.  And I was tickled to hear more about her story.

We’d invested a couple hours of time in sharing life stories and those little details will carry us forward and make impacts small and large on how we weave our upcoming adventures.  I think we both left hoping for the best future for the other.

At the end of the weekend, a friend texted asking if it was okay for her and another friend (just an acquaintance to me) to stop by the Harn as they were travelling to the area.  I replied, “Sure. We’re making chicken and chorizo but if we need a veggie option I can make some soup.  Let me know.  What time?”  She said they should arrive around 6.

Well, the friend she was bringing was a Producer/Director for a Film Company.  They just happened to be doing a short film on the Paddle to Protect project – you may remember that from a previous blog.  Dan and I were big supporters of these courageous kids as they made their way from the Headwaters of the Mississippi to Big Sandy Lake spreading a message for us to “Love Water Not Oil” and fight the Line 3 project currently pending approval in Minnesota.  These kids get that Water is more important to Life than Oil.  They know that if they want a planet that will support their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, it will require clean water and air.  And they are approved as Youth Climate Interveners in the legal battle against Enbridge.

Well, this filmmaker could not believe she’d lucked into staying at a place where there would be people so aware and connected to the project so… she decided to interview us for the film!  She kept saying “Serendipity” and I knew exactly what she meant.  It’s kind of funny how things seem magical sometimes but I find it often in my life.

I don’t know that we’ll get much of a part in the short film but it was really interesting to talk with these two powerful young women in the fight against the Fossil Fuel Industry.  And it felt good to hear about the work they are doing to support these young people in their fight.

I don’t know what life will bring next, but once we have a link for the film, I’ll be sure to share it with you all.

P.S. Sorry for the crappy graphic… I’ll have to spend some time with my son getting tutored on how to do things like this better.  😀

Labor Day Weekend – The End of Summer

Tags

activism, Annie Humphrey, local music, Women

As Labor Day approaches, Dan and I realize we’re running out of summer to get things done.  I was starting to feel like we’re behind the 8-Ball so… we did some planning.  There are three big things we need to finish before winter: Adding the final mass to the Rocket Mass Heater, Building a wood shed, and Cutting wood for the Rocket Mass Heater.  Simple as ABC…

But, like anything here at the Harn, it’s not so simple.  In order to build a wood shed, we need to move the wood and pallets that are in the place where we want to put the shed.  In order to get that wood out of there, we need to re-set the wood pallets in the garage where we stored wood last year… but which were cocked slightly when we added our garage door opener this spring.  In order to re-set these pallets, we need to move a bunch of stuff in the garage to have room to re-set them.  In order to move stuff out of the garage, we have to move stuff out of the hightop (our extra garage).  You see where this is going…  We also need to cut down some trees where the wood shed will go and then remove stumps from the area.  So, there’s that too.

But we have at least created a list of things to get done, noting which things need to be done before other things, and hopefully we’ll start to chug along on checking off items on our list and be ready for winter this year.  But first, we were going to enjoy Labor Day Weekend.

Friday, we met friends from Alex, Jon and Rita, for a quick bite of dinner before heading to the Bonnie Raitt, Indigo Girls, and Annie Humphrey show.  I was SO EXCITED!  Dan loves Bonnie (and I do too) but I was most pumped to meet the Indigo Girls.  Not only are they part of the reason we ended up here at the Harn in Minnesota, but they also founded Honor the Earth with Winona LaDuke.  How did they factor in our decision on this location?  Well, I loved their song Ghost which has a line in it…

…And the Mississippi’s mighty
But it starts in Minnesota
At a place that you could walk across
With five steps down.   ~ Ghost, Indigo Girls

When we visited Itasca State Park and the Headwaters of the Mississippi years ago, I was hooked on this area and we eventually found our little piece of land just north of there.

On arrival to the concert, we got our tickets and back stage passes – first time ever for backstage for both of us.  We found Annie’s bus right away and headed over.  Cedar (her daughter) was there and so was my good buddy Anne Dunn (her momma)!!!  I didn’t expect to find Anne so I was tickled… so happy to see her that we spent a while catching up.  Zayne was there too (Annie’s grandson) and we were regaled with stories of his super hero cave on the bus.  Annie has an awesome cool bus. Here we are standing in front of Zayne’s cave.

 

I was super pumped to hear Annie perform as, at the Duluth show where we first saw her play, we only got a few songs from her.  As I hoped, she played some songs from the new album The Beast and the Garden.

We got a copy at the show and got it signed.  She is a powerful singer and she started the benefit concert off right with some commentary about the importance of fighting pipelines and protecting the rights of the Indigenous.

The whole show was a wonderful event for Honor the Earth.  Every performer encouraged the Water Protectors and emphasized the importance of resisting the pipeline.  The Indigo Girls ROCKED – didn’t realize what rockers they were having never seen them in concert.  But they kicked it up a notch and then Bonnie Raitt closed the show with an amazing performance.  This woman is one of the best guitar players around, her slide is sexy and strong, and she’s still got it at 67 years old.  She looks great, rocks the show, and is a sassy activist!  An amazing performance by all three groups.

Backstage was really well done.  There is a small cabin area with a deck, heater, fireplace and seating behind the Bluestem Amphitheater where the crowd awaited the arrival of our stars.  Winona LaDuke and Keri Pickett were hanging out so we already had celebrities among us.

Dan and I were able to get our Stop Line 3 shirts signed by the Honor the Earth founders: Winona, Emily and Amy.   We also met some interesting people and spent some time talking with friend and fellow Water Protector Andrew.  He’s been a real supporter of Winona the last few weeks and it makes us feel good to know he’s a strong protector for her and she’s a good Elder for him.  The whole concert adventure was a real blessing.

Good friends from Indiana, Steph and Steve, made the long drive up to the Harn for the weekend and we wanted to show them everything!  Of course, we knew they’d get a feel for Harn Living but we really wanted to give them a big taste so we made a little game for them to pick out the things we’d spend time doing on their short visit.  As you can see, we rigged the game a bit…  

Actually, we let them pick the things they wanted to do and we ended up sleeping in (after being up until almost 4 AM that first night) and then touring the Harn grounds and heading to Bemidji to see Babe and Paul.  A stop at Bemidji Brewing for lunch and some beers made everyone happy and then we stopped at Coffee Pot Landing and the Mississippi Headwaters before heading home for some dinner and a bonfire.  Rain Monday kept things low key but made for a great day of game playing.

And… this week our work starts again in earnest.  Dan has already moved the wood into the garage from the wood shed location so we’re started on that process of getting the wood shed in place.  I’ll be moving chives and flowers at the East side of the Harn so we can add foam insulation to push out the frost line.  We’ll fix the corner of the Harn we found last year where we’d forgotten to put the metal corner trim on when we added the screen door for the porch – that was a lot of cold air seepage!  Soon we’ll fill that area with foam and add a better cover for it.  And we’ll get started on the wood cutting and cob building to assure out stove is ready to heat us this year.  I think we need to harvest some potatoes in there sometime too, and maybe some spaghetti squash, but we’ll see what this week brings as it unfolds.

Hope you are all ready for winter once it arrives!

Photo credits: Beast and the Garden Album – Annie Humphrey Music FB Page & Winter is Coming – Pinterest

 

Major Climate Change Litigation in Bagley, Minnesota?

Tags

activism

I  never would have dreamed that the next time I would see Bill McKibben in person might be Bagley, Minnesota.  Or that there would be potential to meet James Hanson ~ yes, the dude who challenged NASA for suppressing his work on Climate Change ~ in this tiny county seat!  But Bagley, a town of less than 1400 people, may very well become the place where Climate Change Activists make their next major step forward.

I had no idea what I was getting into when Dan and I agreed to attend the hearing for a couple women in Clearwater County.  I actually thought it was two young ladies who had been hanging with Winona LaDuke, one of whom I’d met, so I was anxious to show support.  If I hadn’t been so busy, I might have actually read the event, Googled the names, and realized how major this case was going to be.  And if I’d thought about it for a second, I’d have realized the girl I’d met was facing an issue in North Dakota, not Minnesota.  But I showed up, believing I was supporting folks in the Anti-Tar Sands Pipeline Climate Change movement.  And once things got rolling, I was amazed.

When the hearing began, it was to arraign a fourth defendant in the case, Benjamin Joldersma, who was late in being charged with a felony crime.  His role in the event would become clear in later testimony but first we walked through his getting consolidated into the case with the three other defendants, Annette Klapstein, Emily Johnston, and Steve Liptay.

So, what did these people do to warrant felony charges?  They carried out an act of civil disobedience in the name of protecting the planet.  They put their lives on the line to help increase awareness, among the rest of us, that the world is running out of time to make the changes necessary to prevent even more catastrophic climate events.  They put themselves at risk for arrest to show that we need to act now if we’re going to prevent the 100,000+ lives lost every year to Climate Change.

On October 11, 2016, the two women reportedly entered the Leonard, Minnesota valve station and started to shut down the pipeline.  This action was planned to coincide with the International Days of Prayer and Action With Standing Rock.  Along with their cohorts, they were able to shut down every tar sands pipeline entering the US in an act of love & solidarity.  In Leonard, Minnesota, a shut down of Enbridge’s line 4 and 67; TransCanada’s Keystone pipeline was closed in Walhalla, North Dakota; Spectra Energy’s Express pipeline in Coal Banks Landing, Montana was eliminated; and Kinder-Morgan’s Trans-Mountain pipeline in Anacortes, Washington, reportedly offline anyway, was also stopped.  Democracy Now! had a brief report.

Here’s the report from the industry… sounds like they are saying, if you use the Emergency Shutoff Valve, you could rupture the pipeline.  I think that is something we might want to investigate, don’t you??  Since Enbridge has shown us that they can take up to 17 hours to “realize” a ruptured line is a ruptured line and not a bubble they need to push from the system with increased pressure, it might be nice to think we citizens could, should a spill be happening, turn off the valve and save our town.  What we really need is to stop relying on fossil fuels and move to renewables with intensity.  NOW.

Back to our hearing…

Annette Klapstein took the stand and explained her history with the Climate Change movement.  She became active in 2009 and was one of the Seattle Raging Grannies that chained themselves together in rocking chairs to stop a Shell oil rig from heading out for Arctic Drilling. By the end of the summer, Shell sent ships back to Norway and abandoned drilling efforts in the Arctic.  Annette testified that she realized, in order to fight for social justice, it would require work in the arena of climate change.  In 2014, she was part of an effort to block oil trains in Anacortes, Washington and Shell subsequently dropped plans to add a rail spur… once an EIS was required.  Annette’s position: Civil disobedience is the only option citizens have left with a government beholden to banks and fossil fuels.

She explained that their intent in closing the line was to stop Tar Sands oil flow to prevent ecocide.  The operation was done safely by giving notification to Enbridge 15 minutes prior to closing the valve and again 5 minutes before the action happened.  In fact, when they began to turn the valve to close it, they could see the screw turning down as Enbridge closed down the line remotely.  When asked if there was an imminent threat, Annette explained that there is.  We have super typhoons increasing in the Philipines, Washington has had the worst air quality for the last two weeks, and there are fires raging in British Columbia.  Over 100,000 people are dying annually due to Climate Change, we’re in the middle of the 6th Great Extinction, and each year, the scientists explain that the trends are looking worse.  Climate Change is happening faster than we predicted every year.  Coastal cities are facing crisis and droughts continue to intensify.

On cross-examination, the Prosecutor asked a few main questions to each Defendant.  Side note, just after the Judge accepted a motion to join all the cases as one for efficiency,  the Prosecutor made a request to sequester the Defendants.  This means that they would not be able to hear each other’s testimony.  A discussion ensued with the Defense Attorney noting that allowing each Defendant to hear the other would prevent reiteration of details already explained by the other Defendants.  The Judge agreed that sequestration would defeat the purpose of joining all the cases and prevent the Defendants from their right to be present at each critical stage of their trial.  The Prosecutor’s request was denied.  I’m thinking he didn’t want them to hear his questions as he basically had the same questions for each Defendant:

• Are you a Scientist?
• Was there an active oil spill present?
• Were there individuals in immediate danger on the site?
• Have you engaged in letter writing or legislative contacts in Minnesota prior to this action?
• How much carbon dioxide did you prevent with the shutdown?

Annette also got extra questions: Can you define ecocide? and When will the world end?  Oh, yeah, and How did you get here? (implying that she is a fossil fuel user).  Annette had an excellent response to this question in noting that the system is set up to require her physical presence but that she was able to secure a ride from Seattle with a friend who was delivering a car to Minnesota.  So basically, she had very little carbon footprint above what was already needed for the friend’s original journey.

Emily Johnston was our next Defendant.  She has been active in Climate Change work since 2011 when she got involved with 350.org and participated in the Keystone XL protests.  KXL was subsequently denied by President Obama.  Sounds like that civil disobedience worked!  By the way, 350.org was named based on the fact that, if we want to keep the Earth viable, we need to remain below 350 ppm of CO2.  Where are we now?  About 410 ppm.

Emily was a part of the Kayaktivists who rode kayaks to prevent the Shell oil rig from leaving port.  This is not only risking arrest but literally putting her life on the line.  Emily was willing to risk a felony charge because when Activists take a personal legal risk, they show their vulnerability and this increases the chance that people will take their actions seriously.  She noted the science that says we have about 3 years until we hit 4.5°F (2°C), the point of no return… the point where we can’t really make a difference that will allow our planet to remain viable.   She contends that we have no time for small changes.  The solution is to reduce emissions by 15% each year as we begin reforestation and regenerative agriculture.

Emily also explained that Civil Disobedience is a derivative of English Common Law which allows if, say, a house is burning and a baby is inside, you to override the law of breaking and entering the private residence to save the life of the baby.  In other words, it’s acceptable to break the law for a greater good, a higher law.  [On cross-examination, the Prosecutor would ask her if there were any “babies attached to the pipeline”.]

Emily made clear that the Activists are not “fighting Enbridge”, they are “fighting Tar Sands”.  She believes that civil disobedience is required to increase consciousness of the danger of Tar Sands.

Benjamin Joldersma was our third Defendant to take the stand.  Benjamin has three children from 2-7 years old.  His most compelling testimony regarded explaining the tough decision he and his wife made in him being a part of this work.  I was in tears as he noted that he wanted to be able to look his young daughter in the eyes when she one day asked what he did to try to stop Climate Change.  I cried because I too feel an obligation to my son when I think about the work I do in water protection.  Ben discussed the effect the Paris Climate Talks had on him: even with agreement by 197 countries that we must to something, we will still bypass 2°C.  All legal efforts have been exhausted.  Civil disobedience is our only option.  He told a story of a 2015 camping trip where he met some climate scientists and, based on their stories, he realized we were out of time.  Ben’s role on October 11th was to call Enbridge with a notification of the pending action at 15 minutes out and 5 minutes out.

Steven Liptay was our final witness and he was simply a cameraman documenting the activity.  He believed he was within his First Amendment rights to document the happenings and share the information with media outlets.  He had a pretty impressive array of Climate Change work to date including work as an intern on Everything’s Cool, cameraman on Do the Math, and he worked on the HBO documentary How to Let Go of the World And Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change.  And, he IS a scientist, having an MS in Environmental Policy and working as a Biologist for Audubon.  He believes that when mainstream media is not telling the story, it requires independent media to inform people on what is happening.  There is a Climate Change Emergency and he wants to inspire others to take action.

I was so impressed with each of these four people.  Not only for their courage to take a strong stand in fighting Climate Change, but for their coherent and articulate explanations of what they are doing and why they are doing it.  Their passion to save our planet from its imminent destruction is admirable.  Their commitment to civil disobedience is commendable.

In the end, each of the four Defendants plead Not Guilty to the charges.  They are claiming their actions are “Necessary” as the legal means for addressing climate change have been exhausted without response from our government and corporate leaders. As citizens, our only recourse remaining is civil disobedience.

I think the fact that 45 just disbanded an Advisory Committee on Climate Change is a good indication that they are on the right track.

Photo credit to Daniel Gaither.

DEIS Comments – A Review

Tags

activism, Line 3, MEPA, MPUC

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement Public Comments are in and I’ve read hundreds of pages of commentary from my fellow Minnesotans and others who have expressed concern and support for Enbridge’s proposed Line 3.  Mine is not a thorough analysis as there are thousands of pages of commentary to peruse and I’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg.  However, I thought I would provide a brief update from my explorations.

The comments have been published alphabetically by submitter’s last name.  In the case of organizations, they are listed by the organization’s name.  I received eight email messages of the comments, each with a listing of files.  The first email included:

1. DEIS – Local Units of Government
2. DEIS – Federal Agencies
3. DEIS – State Agencies and Legislators
4. DEIS – Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
5. DEIS – Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe
6. DEIS – Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe
7. DEIS – 1854 Treaty Authority
8. DEIS – White Earth Band of Ojibwe

The third email had:

1) DEIS – Citizen Written Comments, A
2) DEIS – Citizen Written Comments, Anonymous, Part 1 of 2
3) DEIS – Citizen Written Comments, Anonymous, Part 2 of 2
4) DEIS – Citizen Written Comments, B
5) DEIS – Citizen Written Comments, C
6) DEIS – Citizen Written Comments, D
7) DEIS – Citizen Written Comments, E, Part 1 of 3
8) DEIS – Citizen Written Comments, E, Part 2 of 3
9) DEIS – Citizen Written Comments, E, Part 3 of 3

Comments from the letter H took up three of the email notices with 20 sets of documents total.  The eighth email covered letters R-Z.  But I want to talk about the G letters.

I was tickled to see Dan’s letter first, followed by mine.  We both sent several pages of input: science and emotion, along with DEIS page numbers to which we referred.  We’d put some time, thought, and consideration into the letters we sent.  I was surprised to see an almost even response in the Pro-Pipeline and Anti-Pipeline comments.  But when I looked at the detail, here’s what I found.

Occasionally a letter was hard to tell whether it was positive or negative to the pipeline but with a bit more reading and investigation I was able to classify them all in the end.

The number of Pro-Pipeline comments was 34 while Anti-Pipeline had 37 comments.  This seems like even support for both options on its face.  But a deeper look reveals some interesting detail.  Also, as I paged up and down through the letters in writing this blog, I realized some people had provided input multiple times.  If we remove the duplicate entries from the same person, the Pros go to 32 [one guy sent in two pre-printed cards, though he did have different comments on his cards; the first said “Pipelines suport good paying jobs. They Also put alot of money into Local economy!” and the second said, “I support the Line 3 project.  It produces good jobs!” – at least he spelled ‘support’ correctly the second time around] and the Antis go to 31.  [More on this below.]  For analysis purposes, I counted each response individually, even if it was one of three responses from a given individual.

Of the 34 support letters, 24 were simply pre-printed postcards, many with little or no comments at all, just a name, address and phone/email.  Three were DEIS Public Meeting Comment Sheets (papers provided at the public open houses for people to provide commentary).  Five were emails and two were letters.

Compared with the letters speaking to opposition to the Line 3 project, there was only one pre-printed card and even it had some commentary.  There were two DEIS Public Meeting Comment Sheets, one handwritten letter, and 32 emails, many of which were multiple page documents.

Looking solely at the pages of input, there were 89 pages total.  Each email had its own page in the document, as did each pre-printed card.  There were 34 pages for Pro-Pipeline, and 55 pages for Anti-Pipeline.  Dan and my letters accounted for seven of the pages.  Ken Graeve of St. Paul accounted for seven pages on his own but did so via three messages, each with a different focus: one on invasive species and the threat to agriculture and forestry industries in Minnesota; one on energy policy and whether this “facility” can comply with relevant policies, rules, and regulations of other state and federal agencies and requesting a review of alternative energy sources; and one on the flaws in the DEIS analysis of impacts to wetlands from inconsistencies in the reported acreages (313 in one table and 440 in another) to the failure to consider hydrologic connectivity of wetlands to false assumptions made about stormwater runoff and erosion.  Ken’s professional experience lies in the fields of ecological restoration, environmental compliance on construction projects, and invasive species control and prevention.

Other Anti-Pipeline multiple submissions were made by Jo George, Eileen Grunstrom and Roger Grussing of Pillager. Roger focused on the same issue of “4 times safe” rules which should be required of pipelines in both submissions but he provided an email and a more detailed DEIS Public Meeting Comment Sheet.  Eileen submitted support of the Friends of the Headwaters stance in opposition to the pipeline with a list of the many waterways at risk in the corridor and then replied with additional personal information for consideration asking in the end, “What kind of legacy am I leaving to my children and grandchildren?” Jo George of Minneapolis noted three focuses in as many contacts:  what the state (not national) need is for the pipeline in light of falling fuel demand; the absence of spill data provided by Enbridge (much of it was redacted from the public information shared); and consideration for the greater economic picture including fishing, tourism, and recreation industries among others.

 

On the Pro-pipeline side, the two multi-submissions of two individuals account for their loss of two counts.  Similarly to Eric Gulland of Duluth, John Gilbertson of Puposky submitted two pre-printed cards: one with no comment and one stating: “It is rediculos that all these meetings need be. After 60+ years of using pipelines to move oil, without a doubt its proven to be by far the safest way. Everything is in place lets get to work.”

I did read most all the letters for the R-Z section and one of my favorites was this from David Reisenweber of Duluth: “It’s really stupid to run tar sands oil through water rich Mn.”  He pretty much states the obvious simplicity of this debate.  Water is life.  The oil, tar sands not the conventional crude with which Minnesotans have a long history, is not destined for us but will most likely end up as exports to China.

The Sierra Club gave me high hopes with their exhaustive (33 pages of legalese) explanation on how the Department of Commerce’s (DOC) DEIS did not meet the MN Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) requirements of an EIS and that there were multiple failures in methodology for evaluating impacts.  They soft-pedaled their criticism of the DOC in saying these errors are due to the highly complex nature of an EIS, especially considering the “scale and range of the project and the many impacts to water, land, air, health, safety, security, and communities”.  Sierra Club encouraged “the Department to prepare a new DEIS in close coordination and consultation with the Department of Natural Resources, the Pollution Control Agency, and other agencies who can lend both their knowledge and experience on how to prepare an EIS so that it complies with the requirements of MEPA “.

I’d second that.

 

 

Love Water Not Oil Tour 2017

Tags

activism, fun, local music, Women

What a fantastic weekend we had in Duluth!  We headed over to hit the Honor the Earth 5th Annual Love Water Not Oil Tour featuring Nahko Bear and Annie Humphrey among others.  We decided to go over Saturday and get oriented and see town before the Sunday concert.

We arrived in the afternoon and headed to the AirBnB in Hermantown.  When we arrived, Josh, our host, was building a pergola on the large patio deck.  They have a private entrance space with a living room, dining area with refrigerator, coffee maker and microwave, bathroom and three bedrooms each with a queen bed.  It’s a lovely and simple space with a nice bed and enough pillows.  Super clean and quiet.  We really enjoyed relaxing in this space late in the evening but first, we headed to the Canal Walk.

We found tremendous traffic at the Canal Park.  We finally found a parking space under the solar panels near Sister Cities Park and the Lakewalk.  We enjoyed rock spotting and seeing the wide open Lake Superior as we walked the shore but it was dirtier than the North Shore – a little too industrial for me.  There were a bunch of young men enjoying The CRIBS, also referred to as Uncle Harvey’s Mortuary, a large concrete structure of varied legend.  Like little crabs, the boys scuttled along the thin walls of the structure, occasionally jumping from the heights.

We headed inland toward the Dewitt-Seitz Marketplace, recommended by friend Anne Paulson who once lived in Duluth.  We found the Blue Heron, like a compact Crate and Barrel, to be full of lovely spices, sauces, cookware, tools and table coverings. A really fun space to explore.  Just across the way is the Art Dock, full of fun treasures.  We didn’t have time to head up to J. Skylark  but their lower level window display looked really enticing.  We were out of time and had to head to our parking space.  From there we headed up to Downtown and stopped after finding a back alley parking spot (free!) to the Electric Fetus.   It was like going back in time and I took some time to listen to the top albums – none of which was familiar and only one of which made an impression.  Sammy Brue might be worth a listen if you’re into young upcomers.

We decided to head to the neighborhood with the Co-op grocery on 4^th Street – neighborhoods with co-op groceries are usually pretty great.  We found some good stuff – raw cashews for more Ambrosia, some quick packs of Indian food for dinner, cheese curds (hey we are super close to Wisconsin here – they gotta be good!), and some organic tortilla chips (not very good but cheap).  At the checkout, we asked the guy if there was a good place for a little picnic lunch.  He directed us toward Canal Park and we said, “No, no… that’s too People-y.  You know any place less People-y?”  “Ah,” he says, “Lester Park.  There are nice waterfalls.  It’s a little hike in but worth it.”  So we put it in the Google Map and head toward 51^st and Juniata.  We get there and it’s a pump house. 😦  Just to the left, there appears to be a small parking area… and we see a Butterfly Garden (sorry no pic as we were super non-plussed) which had a couple benches among some sparse wildflowers.  We found a short trail and hiked over the flora finally stumbling upon a small creek.  We decided this could NOT be the right place – no waterfalls.  So we checked again and Google said we need to be at 61^st and Superior.  Ah, yes, this is the place!  We drove up in search of a parking place and find the entrance to The Deeps at the top of the hill. If you go in at the trail at the purple circle, you will hike a mere 20 feet and find yourself at an amazing space in the middle of town.  There are 30’ falls that pour into what is called The Deeps – a deep hole into which the locals cliff dive.  Above this space is a rolling rocky creek with smaller falls where Dan took this photo.

We lounged in the water, climbed the rocks and explored for a bit before heading back to the AirBnB taking the Seven Bridges Road ~ we’ve traveled it now!  We took Skyline road up to the top and saw the Hawk Ridge Reserve though no migrations are scheduled until fall… mid-September looks like prime time, though you’ll want Halloween time for seeing the big Eagles.

We actually watched some TV at the AriBnB – Red Green.  Nothing really worth watching on that black box.  Don’t miss TV a bit.

The next morning, we headed into Superior, Wisconsin to hit the Anchor Bar and Grill – Yep, Sunday is a busy day for this little dive.  Their menu is hilarious!  I highly recommend this super cheap burger joint.  Fresh fries and good burgers.  Dan had the Bacon Cheeseburger and I had the Cashew Burger (cashews and swiss – yum).  There was another couple looking for a quiet table – the Elvis was blasting.  Since we’d done the same thing minutes before and had room at our table, we asked them to join us.  They were waiting for their friend, “Crazy Nancy Nelson” (who did turn out to be a HOOT!), and we had room for three so the two sat.  Julie and Joey Sando turned out to be a splendid addition to our party.  She soon mentioned they were seeking driftwood for her art.  Art?  What kind of art does she do?  Stained glass.  And driftwood???  Well, you should check out her stuff – it’s pretty awesome. I forwarded her info to the Rec Lab Creative Activities committee because she’s seems like a lot of fun.  Looking forward to seeing her again sometime.  So glad we invited them all to join us as it made our brunch a super fun time.

After burger breakfast, we headed to the Bayfront Festival Park for the Love Water Not Oil show.  Arriving early again, we walked directly into the venue and found the Honor The Earth organizers who asked if we were volunteers.  So I guess we could have volunteered and got in the show free but we’re happy to send funds to HTE.  We ended up volunteering anyway and were assigned the vendor gate.  This was a happening place and I only got one F-Bomb from a lady who was really pissed she had to walk to the north entrance to enter with her ticket after walking all the way to this vendor gate already (like 100′).  It wasn’t that far a walk (maybe 100 paces further?) and I’m hopeful her day ended up going better.  The rest of the day I thanked the people we kept directing to the ticket entrance for not F-you-ing me and it gave us all lots of laughs… and perspective.  I guess that was payback for all the F-yous I’ve dished out to customer service people on the phone over the years!  I’m better than I used to be but still a work in progress.

So, the big perks of being at the vendor gate?  Got to see:

• Corey Medina ride out on his motorcycle for some wind in the hair before the show started.
• Friends Nicolette, Sarah & Keri from HTE coming in to set up tables and Cedar heading in and out for lunch.
• Greeting Winona LaDuke as she came in to begin the festivities with ceremony.
• Saying hi to Don again – he remembered me from the Futurists conference where we first met!  {Dan says I’m pretty unforgettable.  Aw, ain’t that sweet?}
• The arrival of the Teepees.
• Nahko Bear driving into the venue – AWESOME Groupie Moment. 🙂
• The adjacent and handy port-o-potties! We let several folks in to pee before they headed to the ticket entrance.  It was a super laid back show and fun to be a part of it all.

I was impressed with the ceremony that opened the show.  There were some prayers and songs and the elder that did ceremony for Winona spoke of the importance of honoring women – how we treat our women is how we treat the Earth.  So true.  It’s time for change.  She challenged us all to bring respect to how we allow others to treat us as women and to protect women assuring safety and respect for them all.  Maybe if we can find love and respect for each other, we can start to heal this planet in a big way.

The teepees were also inspiring.  They had the Keystone XL teepee and the teepee from Standing Rock.  Dan got some good shots.  The musical line-up followed:

• Elizabeth Jaakola & Family – Fond du Lac Musicians who sang great original songs with my favorite probably being Covfefe, which consisted of a bunch of mush mouth, jive talk and a perfectly understood chorus of “Covfefe”.  😉 I’d heard them doing this one at sound check and had chuckled my way to the vendor gate as I listened.  http://www.firstpeoplesfund.org/elizabeth-jaakola/ Nice songs about standing up for Mother Earth, being strong as Indigenous, and having fun too.
• Thomas X from the Red Lake Tribe – really nice Rez Rap. https://thomasx.bandcamp.com/  His tunes are all available online.  Support him if you can – he had a sweet little baby on the blanket with him when I stopped by to give him props.  Welcome to the Rez is a nice mix and I had my fist in the air for Standing Rock.  TOTALLY love this dude after giving more of his albums a listen today.  Check him out.
• Two for One – a South Minneapolis hip hop rapper. Couldn’t find him online anywhere but he had some good lyrics and seemed like a nice kid.
• Maria Isa, a self-described SotaRican, rapped her way through a set. I thought it was a strange sound – kind of all over the place – couldn’t really get into it before it changed into something else.  https://www.facebook.com/pg/iammariaisa/videos/?ref=page_internal
• Two short stints by the Sunshine Boys and a guy from California – both presented indigenous songs from their traditions – really nice stuff.
• Annie Humphrey – first time FINALLY getting to see her play live. What a powerful woman!  Here’s a great video perfect for this Love Water Not Oil show which is all about celebrating riding horses against the flow of the proposed pipeline… in case you didn’t know, Horses can Kill Snakes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd6wsVgWoUI  It’s so interesting to see her perform – she is such a blend of her mother and daughter, both of whom I know better than I know Annie, that it creates a wonderful feeling inside me.  Thomas X mentioned that he first saw Annie perform when he was 13 and her performance brought him to tears.  I can definitely relate.  Beautiful voice, lovely music.  Definitely find your way to listening to some of Annie’s work.  Here’s Edge of America.
• Corey Medina and Brothers. FANTASTIC.  Great blues/rock sound.  Dan kept watching them thinking they looked really familiar… until we decided Corey reminds us a lot of Alex Crankshaft.  Here’s a Tiny Desk Concert they did (though the two cats with Corey in this one are much younger versions of the two on stage this weekend, Gary Broste & Eric Sundeen).  Ah, here’s one with them playing Want it All at Rail River Folk School.
• Nahko, AKA Nahko Bear, leader of Medicine for the People.  This was the artist that brought us to this show.  He spent most of the afternoon hanging out with the crowd… giving bear hugs, taking photos, chatting.  I was astounded at the variety of people coming out to see him.  I expected the hippies, the water protectors, the Indians but not the young white moms, old white ladies, three older white dudes from the Cities.  All ages from toddler to seniors, all colors.  I guess the only ones not represented were oil men and dumbass rednecks.  Dan and I were grateful to be the final photo op before he headed in for some lunch and pre-show preparation. And he remembered me as the one who welcomed him at the gate!

Definitely check out his music.  Here are a few videos:

• Love Letters to God: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPVhnlZaZWs
• One of my faves… Vultures of Culture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P__iE8ISF5c
• And this one… super fun!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd1CHFfym1s
• Well, I just don’t think there’s any better ending for the blog than that.  Unless it’s this…  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHMsOXgSb9o

Enbridge Line 3 “Replacement” DEIS Commentary

Tags

activism, sustainability

So I took time to read some of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Line 3 “Replacement” Proposal that is currently open for public comment. [Through July 10^th, if you want to add your commentary.]  I think anyone in the middle U.S. should be submitting comment as the Mississippi Watershed is pretty large.  If we fuck it up here near the headwaters, the rest of you are screwed.   You can read it here: https://mn.gov/commerce/energyfacilities/resource.html?Id=34695 (see below on how to submit your comments).

I was offended that the DEIS sounded in large part like a very cheery presentation from the conscientious, safety focused, public utility giant… Enbridge.  Yes, there were statements and commentary from various groups that appeared to be concerned more with Mother Earth than the profits of a large corporation.  But these were in the Appendices.  It appears that Enbridge’s account has been taken at face value and presented as fact with the most likely plan being implementing this pipeline.  There does not appear to be much consideration for telling Enbridge to simply go through Canada and leave Minnesota alone.

In addition, when I asked Department of Commerce representative Jamie MacAlister whether Tribal Resources were being given priority consideration in the matter, I was assured they were NOT.  WHAT?!?  The right of people to live by their ways with regard to their food, water and spirituality took no bigger place in the decision than a company’s desire to make some money?  It does not seem to me that the needs of the citizens of Minnesota (and anyone downstream of us) are being given due consideration.

There is an ability to see where Enbridge concerns lie if you look at this passage (Appendix P, Volume 1, page 253). The main concerns are with infrastructure and inconvenience, not less dense human populations, food foraging environments, or birthing grounds of our migratory birds.  In fact, they are more concerned about “crude oil flooding the highway, causing accidents” than how that crude oil flooding might affect the way of life for those of us who rely on wild rice and fresh fish as part of our diets.

While Enbridge calls this a Line 3 Replacement, it’s in actuality a Dumping of the old Line 3 and an Addition of a new, bigger Line 3 through a new corridor.  Did you know that while you can’t leave a fuel tank buried in the ground long-term, we currently have no policy requiring the removal of an oil pipeline once it is no longer actively used?  Why would we NOT require this dirty infrastructure be removed rather than leaving it for the next generation to clean up?  Enbridge again seems pretty concerned with infrastructure issues rather than clean water or wildlife and human impacts.  (Appendix B, pg 14)

Enbridge assures us that, if abandoned, the old line will be purged and cleaned.  If it’s done in any way similarly to the “clean-up” done in Kalamazoo, reason would predict low expectations of a thorough job. The inadequate work done by Enbridge to clean up oil spills should be considered when evaluating their proposed methodology for cleaning up their abandoned pipeline.   Their integrity leaves much to be desired, so much so that to work with this corporation should be seen as illogical and foolish.

When you consider Enbridge’s track record, it is just a matter of time before Minnesota has to deal with ANOTHER spill.  We (Minnesota AND Enbridge) already hold the record for the largest inland spill in US History.  http://www.grandrapidsmn.com/opinion/happy-anniversary-the-largest-inland-oil-spill-in-u-s/article_2ade2706-004f-11e7-9023-2b31a01741a6.html  Now Enbridge is looking at running pipeline that carries substances they can’t even reveal the nature of to us in the public.  In addition, they want to run it in places where no pipeline has gone before, including many wetlands, creeks, and large rivers.  I’m hopeful the powers that be in Minnesota come to their senses and refuse to allow this to happen.

Enbridge reports in the DEIS that they have all kinds of safety programs in place to prevent “accidental releases”, their euphemism for oil spills.  The report says there would be a 10- minute response time to stopping a leak.  (Chapter 10, pg 98) In light of Enbridge’s safety record, we need to not only consider what they propose to do but how they have done things in the past.  How long did it take to respond to the leak alert on the Kalamazoo River oil spill, AKA The Dilbit Disaster?  Ten minutes? Ah, no.  It was slightly longer.

The first alert came on Sunday, July 25, 2010, at about 5:58 p.m. Eastern time when there was a rupture in Line 6B near Talmadge Creek, a tributary of the Kalamazoo River and a little more than a half mile downstream of the Marshall, Michigan pumping station.  At first Enbridge ignored the alarm.  Then the operators assumed it was a “bubble” in the line so they increased pressure (resulting in more oil spilling faster) for hours.  So when did they finally believe the alarms and shut down the line?  More than 17 hours later.

Yeah, let’s just let that sink in for a moment.  17 HOURS.  That’s a LOT longer than 10 minutes.  Regardless of what Enbridge claims they “will do”, we know what they HAVE DONE and that needs a full review in the DEIS.  A review for EVERY SINGLE SPILL.  Enbridge has a worse track record than their competitors and this should be considered as we decide whether or not to grant a Certificate of Need to THIS corporation.

Also, knowing that it’s only a matter of time before there is a release of dilbit into our environment, should the State of MN decide to grant a Certificate of Need and/or Routing Permit on this project, we need to know exactly WHAT is in this dilbit.  What is dilbit?  It is a form of bitumen (tar sands are pretty much asphalt) that has been diluted with a chemical solution to make it flow through the pipeline.  Without it, the thick sludge Enbridge proposes to transport just cannot move.  It is illogical that a proper evaluation of the environmental impact of installing this line can be done if there is not full disclosure of the products that will be coursing through the pipeline and, should there be a failure, spreading into our natural world contaminating both land and water, animals and people.   The National Science Foundation has already warned of the use of dilbit in areas with high moisture content (i.e., wetlands) due to the way the cathodic protection is affected. Yes, much of the new proposed path lies in areas of wetlands.  And reduced cathodic protection means there will be a greater propensity for pipeline degradation… and thus, leak points.  In addition, it’s been noted that the density of dilbit means it will sink in water, not rise, so how are we to know when there is a release if it all stays at the bottom of the wetlands, creek or river?

If the MN Department of Commerce agrees that Enbridge has a need and allows the pipeline to be installed, the accountability for all spills will land on this Department.  All lawsuits, all cleanup, all injuries and deaths, including those of plants and wildlife, would be the result of the Department of Commerce decision.  When the pipeline leaks, and it will as all pipelines eventually leak, the State of Minnesota will hold all accountability.

It is far wiser to err on the side of caution, especially as the world has already reached peak oil – the hypothetical point in time when the global production of oil reaches its maximum rate, after which production will gradually decline.  We are at the end of the fossil fuel era and any attempt to continue the pursuit of fossil fuels only prolongs the time until we make a transition to renewable energy.  There will come a day when there is NO MORE to suck from the Earth and we humans will have to finally come to terms with the development of cleaner, safer sources of energy.  We will either do it in a way that is planned or in a crisis, but we will eventually convert to renewables.

Minnesota needs to be a leader in this process.  We need to show that hemp is another way to meet our energy needs.  We’ve started that with recent legislation.  If oil spills ruin our farmland, that will be a dead end.  Not to mention the effect on our tourism industry.  We need to continue the path of innovation and energy conservation and abandon the path of dirty oil.  I say that Minnesota must, if morality is to brought to bear, act in the interest of clean water, healthy people, and safe environments.  We need to say NO to another pipeline coming through our state.  And we need to tell Enbridge it’s time to remove the old Line 3 from the ground to assure we prevent ongoing and long-term contamination possibilities.

The above are my comments sent to the Department of Commerce on the Line 3 Replacement Draft Environmental Impact Statement.  If you’d like to send you comments, you need to do so by July 10th.  Email your comments here: pipeline.comments@state.mn.us

Stopping Line 3: The Real Work Starts Now

Tags

activism, Enbridge, Line 3, Pipeline

I had the privilege and joy of attending the Rice Lake Community screening of First Daughter and the Black Snake last week.  Keri Pickett, the filmmaker, was present as was Daniel Geiger, who edited through over 800 hours of footage to bring us a coherent and detailed film.  And though we didn’t know it on arrival, we were surrounded by movie stars as many in the Rice Lake Community were in the film.

The event was amazing.  Dawn was in the kitchen organizing when I arrived.  I then met Keri and talked with her about the movie.  She is a joyful person.  I also met Nicolette Slagle who talked with me about what Honor The Earth (HTE) is doing moving forward.  There are a lot of initiatives for starting local sustainability projects – local food, local energy (solar installation training), local art – with a focus on Pine Point as an example for how it’s done.  http://www.honorearth.org/pinepoint  Also met Kaylie, one of the young ladies facing felony charges from the Standing Rock event on October 27^th.  In case you don’t recall, this was the day that Water Protectors and Law Enforcement clashed, resulting in over 140 arrests.  The event became chaotic, largely due to the excessive and disproportionate force by Law Enforcement.  I remember seeing inappropriate action when I was at Standing Rock in mid-August and there has been much evidence of the continued escalation of force against the Water Protectors.  The repercussions of Standing Rock on the Native Community continue.

By this time, everyone was ready to eat.  Dinner was terrific – wild rice, fresh fish, berries.  All the foods that are endangered by the pipeline running through this area.  These people LIVE from the land.  They rely on Mother Earth’s abundant food and they know this is what is at risk by burying pipe in the earth and using it to move some of the dirtiest products the fossil fuel industry has ever developed.  And the chemicals used to make them flow aren’t things you want to ingest… things like benzene.  These chemicals are pulled out and piped back north to  be used again.  Lots of dangerous things to be piping through the waters of Minnesota where water is the lifeblood of our economy.

• http://americablog.com/2013/06/what-does-a-tar-sand-pipeline-actually-contain-among-other-things-sulphur-arcenic-mercury.html
• https://thinkprogress.org/must-read-investigation-reveals-true-hazards-of-piping-tar-sands-across-america-2e033df5f476

The movie was powerful. Winona LaDuke is the focus with her organization Honor The Earth but there is a large portion of time spent in showing everyday people and their day-to-day interactions with the clean waters, harvesting the abundant food.  This is not easy work.  There is a detailed review of the ricing process and you realize just how much work goes into the harvest and processing of wild rice.  It’s a beautiful endeavor that brings delicious food.  And, as hard as it can be, none present at this screening are willing to risk it for a Tar Sands Oil pipeline.

At the end Keri asked what we thought and I piped up with my typical but sometimes inappropriate humor, “You should bill it as ‘See Winona LaDuke naked’.”  You see, there was a photo of her as a toddler in the film, completely naked, a toy gun dangling from her hand.  It was the most adorable photo and I realized later that this is kind of a metaphor for what the film actually depicted.  Winona bares herself, shows her home, shares this process revealing much about her fight, her friends, her family and fellow Water Protectors.  The film tells a story of all that is precious and in need of protection from the pipeline plans.  And, (spoiler alert!), in the end, she shoots them down.  The Sandpiper line was abandoned by Enbridge.  We won.

And then we lost.  Kind of.  Enbridge moved from Sandpiper to Dakota Access.  While this was a loss, as we didn’t prevent the completion of the pipeline in North Dakota as hoped, it can’t be considered a win by DAPL proponents either.  You see, the pipeline has yet to flow.  They are testing the line and keep finding leaks.  Gee… I think some Water Protectors mentioned this as a concern and here we are.  LEAKING!

And the work continues.  We now are facing the long haul to prevent Line 3 in Minnesota. What do we need to do?

• Stand up and speak about objections.  Get to the public meetings.  Here Enbridge and the PUC will present the Draft Environmental Impact Study for Line 3 and secure public comment.  Public meetings begin TOMORROW, June 6, 2017.  Here’s where you can attend: https://mn.gov/commerce/energyfacilities/documents/34079/Notice%20of%20DEIS%20Availability,%20Meetings,%20Comment%20Period,%20Line%203,%205.15.17.pdf  I’ll be there in Bagley to start it off.
• Write to the MN Public Utilities Commission about why we oppose risking Minnesota’s environment to push dirty Tar Sands (it’s not oil!) through the ground from Canada to elsewhere.  As James Botsford argued in Keri’s film, it’s not a public service… it’s not a waterway we can access or even an electrical conduit into which we can tap to pay for electricity.  It is a risk for our land to support a commercial corporate venture.  And it’s a risk not worth taking.  Write to Jamie MacAlister, Environmental Review Manager Minnesota Department of Commerce 85 7th Place East, Suite 280 St. Paul, MN 55101-2198 or email pipeline.comments@state.mn.us,   Fax is 651.539.0109.  Comments will be accepted through July 10^th.

How to write good comments:  The best comments point to specific sections or page numbers of the DEIS and explain precisely how and why they are inaccurate, incomplete, biased, based on unfair assumptions, etc.  It is also good to reference credible sources of information that you think the State should take into account.  Feel free to include personal stories or accounts of how the project will directly affect you, your rights, your community, the resources you depend on, etc.   Comments such as “Please build the pipeline because I need a job” or “Water is Life, No Pipelines!” do not have much impact…but may be counted in an overall tally, so something is better than nothing!  ~ From Honor The Earth website

• Write to your Representatives. Get contact info here: https://www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/districtfinder
• Join Honor The Earth and support their efforts.  Find out more here: https://www.stopline3.org/news/deis

This will be a harder fight than we might imagine.  There is much going on of which we are not aware.  Just today, Dan and I had two young men enter our property without permission.  They THOUGHT they had permission.  They’d talked with their Enbridge contact that morning and were under the impression we had been contacted about the pipeline project and that they had a right-of-way.  I explained that Enbridge has not been in contact and we had no information from Enbridge about the possible reroute of the pipeline through our back yard.  We found out about it when, several months after orange flags showed up along our East property line, the neighbor mentioned that pipeline people had been by to talk with them about putting the line through their property.  Only the property in question wasn’t that neighbor’s property. Seems Enbridge has a piss poor understanding of plat books or just doesn’t comprehend how maps work.  These neighbors had no property in the proposed area of the pipeline re-route.  They pointed the oil man to our neighbor to the south who owns the piece in question.  The pipeline people reportedly noted they, “had talked with him”…  Didn’t sound like they’d made much progress.

I also let those boys know that they ought to be careful as most folks up in these parts aren’t real keen about strangers coming onto their property unbidden.  Some even have guns and will shoot first and ask questions later.  They appeared to be nice boys and they may end up being on the right side.  Seems they work for West which does bat surveys.  You see the Long Eared Bat is endangered and they are looking to do surveys to find out if these bats are present on the proposed pipeline grounds.  Sounds like Enbridge is looking closely at this re-route to run through our neighbor’s property…  And maybe a bat will save the day and stop Line 3.  In the end, they decided to leave until they could figure out where they were really supposed to be.  I told them they should ask Enbridge to be in touch at the address on the mailbox at the driveway.  We also gave them our number.  It might make me feel like they actually care about communication with the people they are potentially going to affect.

So glad we attended the movie screening for First Daughter and the Black Snake.  It was an encouragement.  I know it’s just a small group but there is a lot of power in this little group of people.  You can see more here: http://www.blacksnakefilm.com/

All the yard signs at that event were taken by the end of the night, but my favorite is the one that supports Enbridge cleaning up their mess with pipeline removal.  Now those are some jobs we need.

 

Pipeline Walk & Writer Retreat Dreams

Tags

activism

This past week has been another busy one with a Pipeline Walk, some Public Singing, a Visit to Cass Lake, our first “Writer” at the Harn, a Trip to Alex for U-Group, and more progress at the Harn.

The Pipeline Walk was an event sponsored by Honor the Earth (http://www.honorearth.org/) to give people an exposure to how close the pipelines are in our area.  Cass Lake has multiple pipelines through it and we began the walk at the Rest Stop on U.S. 2.

The day began with Annie Humphrey making a Spirit Plate to begin our lunch.  Anne Dunn offered up the plate and also a song, which she asked me to help her sing for the folks.  This was a transformative experience for me as I am NOT a public singer.  But how could I leave Anne to do it alone?  She had asked me to come up with her as I’d been a part of the group from Mallard Island that developed the song last year.  I didn’t think fast enough to realize that her granddaughter Cedar, also at that retreat, could have joined us as well. So here I was… my first singing engagement.  It worked out fine as no one threw anything. I have to think that maybe the reaction from the group was the same as my reaction when someone sings as a leader.  Namely, “Wow, that is pretty brave of her to get up and sing in front of everyone.” And they must have thought me extra brave as I’m not a good singer!!  Dan says I did OK and it was good that the song was simple so people could jump in right away.  We got through it and then Anne said, “OK, now we know it, let’s sing it for real.”  WHAT?!?!?  And then she also walked away!  So here I am at the front on my own trying to lead this song.  Well it must have been a good experience cause when Sadie asked me to sing the song for her the next evening, I did.  It is a really nice song thanks to Patty Kakac.

Marty Cobenais, long-time and successful pipeline resistor, showed us the pipelines running under Cass Lake (1 & 2) which have been there since 1950.  Spent some time watching Sarah Littleredfeather documenting the event on livestream for Honor the Earth.   Here’s her video on this portion of the day: https://www.facebook.com/WinonaLaDukeHonorTheEarth/?ref=br_rs At about 2 minutes in, Marty talks about the lines running under the lake. We discussed how, if there was a leak on the decades old lines, the lake would be poisoned with the chemicals used to make the sticky stuff flow through the pipelines. Benzene, Toluene, 1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene… nothing you’d want in your water.

We then walked across the road to where three lines ran on the opposite side (67, 4 & 3).  12.5 minutes into the above video, Marty talks about Enbridge providing the parking lot for the public and then the shutdown processes in case of a leak. At 15 minutes in, he talks about Enbridge’s recycling program. And then he discusses the thousands of integrity digs awaiting Enbridge attention (like 6000). While at this stop, Dan happened to notice a white truck so he went down to investigate.  Dan wandered down and the driver got out of the truck.  After noting the chevrons on Dan’s jean jacket, he asked if he was in the Marines and they started a brief conversation. He was wearing a private security uniform. He was watching the group of Water Walkers… for Enbridge (more on how we know that later).

The group headed back across the street to the Rest Area, and from there, to an area across the lake where the pipeline was exposed, even though they are supposed to be buried three feet deep (four feet in agricultural land to prevent the farmer from plowing into them). Dan stayed back at the Rest Area with Anne and Cedar and a few others who didn’t want to make the hike.  This hike was about ¾ mile back through the woods and into a swampy area where the lines are above ground and you can walk on them.  I didn’t opt for a photo, instead watching others walk the line well into the wetlands.  Some examined the exposed pipe and found the protective rubber coating to be spalling, exposing the pipe surface to the elements.  https://www.facebook.com/WinonaLaDukeHonorTheEarth/photos/p.1300132750107171/1300132750107171/?type=3&theater Here’s Sarah’s video for segment 2 of the day: https://www.facebook.com/WinonaLaDukeHonorTheEarth/?ref=br_rs – we reached the site about 18 minutes into the video and you can see the deterioration of the pipeline.

It was a long walk and I enjoyed the conversation with other Water Protectors.  We were gone for quite some time and I worried if Dan was keeping occupied.  Well, he was as I found out later.  While we were at the hike, the Enbridge guard, paid time-and-a-half that day to watch the Water Protectors, had gone back to the Rest Area.  Turns out, when we all headed out to the hike, he thought we’d be going to the Superfund site (our last stop of the day) where they planned to intercept the group with law enforcement.  So as we headed East, he headed in the opposite direction.  After realizing he’d lost us, he went back to the Rest Area where Dan was hanging out waiting for my return.  They had a longer conversation this time. Unfortunately Dan could offer no information to him on “where’d they go?”  The amazing part is that he headed out of the Rest Area moments before we arrived back to take a break and then head to our final stop!  From the below video, it looks like there was almost a half hour before law enforcement was called to intercept these dangerous citizens.

This video is from the last stop which is a Superfund site near Norway Beach. https://www.facebook.com/WinonaLaDukeHonorTheEarth/?ref=br_rs At about 7 minutes, Marty gives an explanation of the 2010 spill near Deer River.  At 9.5 minutes, he mentions the spill nearby whose size is still unknown though 200 cubic yards of waste have been removed thus far.  Spill levels are self-reported so there was some speculation on how accurate they are.  I know in previous jobs I’ve had, we worked hard to minimize the negative information getting to our customers.  I’ve heard dozens of stories of people being paid to lie for their companies and I’d imagine Enbridge is no different.  At 12 minutes, Marty discusses the Mayflower, Arkansas line which was de-commissioned and then re-used.  At 17 minutes in, there is a discussion on what we can do.  At 22 minutes, it’s noted that they are standing on a leak – it’s underground and not visible but it’s there. There was a law enforcement interception at this final stop which I missed as we had another appointment in Cass Lake. But my friend Joshua filmed it here: https://www.facebook.com/JoshuaHWatkins?ref=br_rs (best portion is 1:20-3 minutes, and one great ending at 5:25 where Joshua states the obvious to the oblivious officers). At 1:20, Annie tries to address the Sheriff.  At 2:30, the Sheriff addresses the group and tells them, “The Railroad has called and asked that you please leave.”  REALLY???  The Railroad has some kind of camera on their “right-of-way” and monitors it and then calls the Sheriff to ask people to leave the right-of-way??  Has this EVER happened to you?  I call BULLSHIT.  Probably a good thing I wasn’t there.  I might have been arrested for being belligerent.

Meanwhile, Dan and I were visiting Milt and Jamie Lee, a couple that does the radio show Call of the Wild (LINK) for KAXE/KBXE.  They’d interviewed us for the Harn Edition of the show and having learned of their strawbale homestead, we had to go and see it.  What a treat!  They have been developing their place about as long as we have ours and it was fun to compare stories on the development process.  Jamie is also a local writer and I’d had a workshop with her at Farm by the Lake where I received her book.  Well, I finally took time to open it this week and I couldn’t put it down.  I finished it in one sitting and it has become the third book to make my Top Five Favorite books.  It is a lovely, spiritual, story and the way it came about is pretty magical as well.  I highly recommend you to read Washaka the Bear Dreamer: A Lakota Story Based On Leon Hale’s Dream https://www.amazon.com/Washaka-Bear-Dreamer-Lakota-Story/dp/0972900241

Having met up with Sadie at the Pipeline Walk – she’s working on a thesis related to pipelines – we headed home to the Harn with her after a lovely dinner with the Lees.  Milt is an awesome cook!  Sadie ended up staying a couple nights and while we had loads of good conversation, she also was able to complete some writing.  I realized she could be the seed of the Writer’s Retreat I dream of one day opening.  🙂  Had a lovely time with a bonfire at the full moon.

Once we had our guest on her way, we were back to real work.  We had started clearing the deadwood from the woods surrounding the Harn proper and were able to resume this work.  We pulled small trees, large branches, and sticks it into clear areas, and now have a load of wood to process in a place where we can do so without major tick troubles.  So far, things are pretty quiet on the tick front but they’re coming…

We received our plants from Edible Acres (http://www.edibleacres.org/) this week and began planting our orchard with nut tree guilds.  What are guilds?  In Permaculture, a guild is a grouping a plants, trees, animals, insects, and other components that work together to help ensure their health and productivity.  There’s a quick overview here: http://www.neverendingfood.org/b-what-is-permaculture/permaculture-guilds/ We still have to get the grass covered but we have hazelnut trees, bee balm, black current, and onions planted thus far.  Thanks go to Connie for our bee balm and black currents as we spent a morning splitting plants at her place for the upcoming plant sale and headed home with a truck full of beauties: Asters, Purple and Yellow Coneflowers, Bee Balm, Curly Chives, Day Lily, Oxeye Daisy, Sweet William, Rudbeckia, Perennial Onions, and Mullein.  So we have spent several days planting.  We did:

• 5 hazelnut trees (3 in the Orchard clearing and 2 at the Greenhouse clearing)
• 9 walking onions (some with the hazelnuts and others near the house)
• 9 holes with coneflowers (purple & yellow) Along the wetland at drive curve by Big Rock
• 7 day yellow-orange/rust lilies (divided from one large clump) at front entrance by Big Rock
• Couple dozen perennial onions (near hazels and near house)
• 3 black currants (near hazels)
• 6 holes with bee balm (near hazels)
• 7 holes with asters (at turn north in the drive)
• 4 raspberries (in the zone 2 woods)
• 3 black caps (in the orchard clearing)
• 3 sun chokes (on the garden hugelbed)
• Two plots of rhubarb (heirloom no less – one full sun and one on hugelbed in garden)
• A bunch of curly chives (in hugelbed)

I am amazed at the fun we’re having and the progress we’re making.  I can’t believe we got the Hugelbed done and planted in a single afternoon!!  As I wrote to several people in thank you cards and notes this week, it really seems that the Universe is bringing messages, almost faster than we can read them, that this is a true and good path for Dan and me.

Public Hearing on the Enbridge Line 67 Border Crossing

Tags

activism, communication

The Department of State held a Public Hearing in Bemidji last week.  I attended along with hundreds of others.  I heard there were Enbridge representatives present, though I wasn’t aware of any.  The majority of those present were in opposition to the approval of a border crossing for Line 67 (previously called the Alberta Clipper).

Earlier in the afternoon, dozens of people met at Rail River Folk School where there were several speakers including Brandy Toft, Lindsey Ketchel, Jason Edens, Erica Bailey-Johnson, and Winona LaDuke.  The final speaker – apparently ad hoc? – was Marty Cabenais but I was astonished to see him on stage as I’d met him the previous night but had no idea he was a pipeline guy (or I’m sure we’d have chatted away quite a bit more – mostly I was cooing over his new grandchild).  I found out later that he’s also my mailman.  Small world in rural parts!

While I knew Winona was going to speak – really wish I’d heard her and hope there is a link to hear the earlier talks – I arrived just in time to hear a portion of Marty’s sharing.  It was really wonderful to see the large group of people who braved the cold to walk from Rail River to Sanford Center – a 2 mile walk in blustery cold winter winds.  Sylvia and I drove to Sanford hoping to be able to walk back to meet the group and return to Sanford with them but we realized it was quite cold and we’d be walking into the wind.  We decided to drive to meet the group and see if there were any people who needed a ride to finish their journey.  We didn’t get any takers and we were amazed to see how quickly they made their way on this route.  I was excited to be able to film them coming into Sanford.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufR-qTMZeH8

There were some chants and callbacks along the march to the event and on arrival. But the real treat was seeing the jingle dress dancers and hearing the singing and drumming. Varied spontaneous chants began from a number of people with everyone joining in as we caught the pattern. We were quite cold so headed inside to see the Hearing Room.  There were a few dozen people from Duluth/Grand Rapids and close to or over 100 from The Cities there to speak their concern regarding this pipeline.

The format of the meeting was posters with representatives to answer questions which really limited the information sharing to a few people at a time with much repetition.  There was no overall communication where all participants would hear the same information.  There were a few tables over which the presenter could show papers or the Environmental Impact Study while discussing questions but most stations were simply a standing place with a poster on an easel.  There was a video presentation with a couple dozen chairs and about 12-15 round tables with chairs for people to gather and relax.  You had to wander the room and figure out who could answer what questions by looking at the poster they stood adjacent to.  Oh, and some of the representatives are actually consultants.  Security from the Department of State in DC was also flown in for this hearing.

The event had no real format other than citizens milling about seeking answers.  The only announcements were when the event was opened and when it ended.  There were displays by the people in opposition to Line 67.  There was a Native circle dance, there was a film-crew recording, several news people doing interviews and filming the crowd.  Many felt like the State Dept people were uninformed/evasive/overly positive about pipelines.  I had some disturbing experiences with a couple reps – VERY UNINFORMED & VERY DEFENSIVE – but also some good interactions.

The attorney representing on the Presidential decree seemed to have a VERY limited understanding of the issue.  She looked at me like I had two heads when I asked about the legality of the switcharoo. http://www.oilandgas360.com/alberta-clipper-pipeline-faces-opposition-keystone-xl-vote/ https://insideclimatenews.org/news/20140917/state-department-draws-fire-allowing-tar-sands-pipeline-detour   When I explained that this was the Line 3 border crossing which was used to get line 67 crude across the border prior to getting approval for its own border crossing, she said she had no idea what I was talking about and backed away from me like I was a witch or goblin, like she was so uncomfortable as to not want to be in my presence. She truly looked frightened. It was so over the top I struggled to comprehend her fear.  She said she didn’t like the way the conversation was going and she didn’t want to talk with me any longer.  I asked if, as the attorney in the room, she might have an understanding of the legality of the happenings upon which this whole event is based and she said she “only knows about the Presidential Permit”.  Then she basically was able to read the poster.  [I had several people share with me that they had a similar experience with her where she had no answers and was very defensive.]  I decided to cut bait and find a better informed and more willing representative.  I found a woman who seemed to have a level of authority in the room and she directed me to the Engineer whose company had written the Supplemental Environmental Impact Study (SEIS) for the border crossing.

I spent quite a bit of time with the Civil Engineer and consultant company Project Manager, Fred Carey, from Potomac-Hudson Engineering, Inc.  He was being challenged by three people when I arrived.  And I was piling on.  He got pretty defensive but described himself as “objective”.  I think he was in a really tough situation but stayed pretty calm and definitely answered questions, though would not answer our questions about his personal beliefs on the pipeline.  Fred was able to review the SEIS and direct us to areas on which we had questions.  The big question was how does Enbridge monitor areas that are remote and inaccessible.  There was not a real confident answer to this question.  When questioned whether he’d walked the pipeline, whether he’d been to any of the remote areas, he agreed he’d not.  It was stated that, without seeing the property where this pipeline runs, there is no way he can give an accurate appraisal of the effect it will have on the environment.

Among multiple participants, we all agreed he was probably the best person we’d found that night that was willing to try to answer questions.  About the only person really.  Mary Hassell – how’s that for a name? – is the State Department Project Manager for this work and she was the only other person who seemed willing and capable of answering questions.  She came across also as nervous.  It was really strange to see so many people exhibiting fear and pleading ignorance in this Public Hearing which you would assume to be filled with confident, well-spoken, forthright, well-informed representatives from the US Department of State.  I mean, they flew in dozens of people it seemed.  And there was a massive security presence – always a cop or USDoS officer in view. But this didn’t appear to quell fear in the visiting representatives.

I did meet John Enger from MPR News – he was preparing to talk with Winona LaDuke and I asked who he was with as he had a large microphone in his hand.  Told him I LOVE MPR and would listen for him now that I had a face with the name.  Another older woman (Emily) also came up about the same time to greet Winona and when she realized we were both in line, she started to walk away but I told her to stay – she could be after John.  So when Winona freed up, Joe grabbed her for an interview.  Emily and I chatted and I found out that she actually lived in Noblesville for 2 months when her husband was on a 2-year stint as the Director of Connor Prairie.  Small world!  I had shared with her a neat story of Winona that she really loved. As Winona wrapped up with Joe, I called to her so Emily could say hello and I walked on to my next adventure.  I ran into Winona later and she asked me to tell her the story too.  Pretty exciting for this Groupie!

Had an unexpected encounter that was a real joy. After seeing her three times and thinking, “I know this girl” (but feeling unsure as she was not with the normal associates I see her with)… I was elated when Brandy Toft came up and gave me a hug.  I asked where her partner was and she reported that she was here on official business – turns out she is a Leech Lake Environmental Advisor.  [As you highly observant folks will remember from above, she was one of the Rail River speakers.  I was doubly sorry to have arrived late.]  It was a great joy to introduce her to Sylvia who was sure Brandy would be a great contact for Sadie, her daughter who is studying oil issues and will be stateside soon.

All-in-all, I felt a vibe of not really seeing how the public viewpoint was really going to matter much.  I think there was a feeling by many that this was more a dog-and-pony show than anything that will truly be considered and possibly make a difference.  But it was good to feel the solidarity of the crowd, participate in the shout-outs and see some media presence.  It was good to see so many people participating in civic responsibility.  I did ask every representative with whom I spoke that night, “What does all this matter really? If 90% of us all say we’re in opposition, will it truly change anything?” and what I got in response was a lot of cheerleading for the process.  “This is the most exciting part of our work.” “It’s so important to have citizen input.”  “There will be a response to every one of the public comments.” [I found out later it’s every “unique” comment.  So only every topic will be addressed, not every comment.]  No one would commit to whether or not the public comments would really make a difference in the decision made by the US Department of State.

Here are several links regarding the event:

http://www.honorearth.org/bemidjiclipper

News Coverage of the event:

http://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/03/08/hundreds-protest-proposed-alberta-clipper-oil-expansion

http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/news/4230774-pipeline-opponents-supporters-gather-bemidji-meeting-enbridge-expansion-request

Fun fact: I think I was the last person to submit public comment via the computers at the event which were logged in to www.Regulations.gov.  The gal providing tech support was Jamie and I noted that I was also Jami.  A third gal came up while we were getting me set to make my comment – she had a question – and it turns out she is Jaime.  We had to take a photo.  That’s Jaime, Jamie and Jami. 🙂

Here’s the comment I posted as the evening came to a close:

Agency: U.S. Department of State (DOS)
Document Type: Nonrulemaking
Title: Environmental Impact Statements; Availability, etc.: Proposed Enbridge Energy, Limited Partnership Line 67 Expansion Project; Public Meeting
Document ID: DOS-2017-0009-0001

Comment:
With everything there is some level of risk. And this study is geared to assess the risk. Having not yet read it in detail, I will make general comments here.
What do we know for sure? We know that we got the run-around from Enbridge in using Line 3 to work around the fact that they did not have approval to cross the border with Line 67. This deception should clearly show the lengths to which they are willing to go to make a dime.
We know that water is essential for life. And we know that oil pipelines tend, more and more of late, to leak. We also know that this oil in Line 67 is some of the worst of the worst, the most corrosive of products, the most energy intensive from which to gain energy. Are we truly considering how much energy goes in to getting a product to make energy? Are we at the point of insanity where we’re expending more on this than we’re gaining?
And we should all see the changing and worsening effects on our climate to the carbon we continue to pump into our atmosphere. If we listen to Bill McKibben and Do the Math (Rolling Stone article denoting the risk of continuing to add carbon to our air), then we will see that the risk of approving this pipeline crossing, only so they can pump more and more oil out of the ground, is too much.
We also know that this oil is basically going from one country, through our land, only to be exported. We have no gain in this and only risk of losing the cleanliness of our water, the beauty of our environment.
Because we also know that, once the oil does leak, it’s impossible to contain. It’s impossible to clean up the mess. Look at Kalamazoo. Should we blame Enbridge for hiding the fact that they weren’t really cleaning up but covering up? Didn’t they have an impossible task? If you can’t truly clean it up, why not try to cover it up instead? It’s more cost effective. Have we incorporated this deceit into the report? Or are we turning a blind eye, pretending they didn’t really do that?
So, to be truly complete, this study needs to consider that we need LESS carbon in our air. We need to KEEP IT IN THE GROUND.
I don’t know that we can stop the powers that be. The big corporation that wants to make money from selling oil, no matter how cheap it gets, making those profits smaller and smaller. The thirst of the world, with America being a huge portion of the problem, for oil. The addiction we have to a fuel that makes everything so much easier.
But this is my small attempt to give voice to Mother Earth. To stand for the Water. To stand for the People whose land will be destroyed if we continue this madness.
I am hopeful that we are truly considering, in their full impact, the above concerns as the decision is made on whether this pipeline crossing is approved.

(One typo fixed from addition to addiction.)

I encourage you to also post a comment should you feel so drawn.  You can do so here: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=DOS-2017-0009-0001  I plan to read more deeply into the SEIS and post further comment as is necessary.

BTW, here’s some totally unrelated but really good news of people power.  http://www.yesmagazine.org/peace-justice/defunding-police-how-antiracist-organizers-got-seattle-to-listen-20170309?utm_source=YTW&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=20170310