It's clear: Wisconsin Doesn't Want Line 5!
You may remember that last April 15 was not only Tax Day, it was also the end of a four-month comment period on the DEIS (Draft Environmental Impact Statement) which the Wisconsin DNR (Department of Natural Resources) had commissioned on Enbridge’s Line 5 expansion proposal. (Need a refresher? New to the pipeline fight? Click here for a Dec. 19, 2021 Newsletter explaining the issue.)
Enquiring minds wanted to know...
On April 16, we knew that a ton of people had commented, but we had no idea how many. We had to wait for the DNR to process them, and it took them months. And when we heard the unprecedented total of over 32,000 comments, we wanted to know more! How many were for and how many against the pipeline? What issues moved people? What did they say?
Thanks to our volunteers, we now know the truth.
So we assembled a team of 26 volunteers, who read all those comments, and tabulated the details, and yesterday we held a press conference and released our 18-page analysis. It contains the issues, graphics, numbers, percentages, and some of the most eloquent quotes from people who oppose the Line 5 expansion. We hope you’ll use social media, emails, or word of mouth to spread the word. Take a look at it now, then use these links to like and share however you can!
Spread the word! It's easy and quick and effective.
You’ll be happy to hear that 63.1% of commenters called on the Wisconsin DNR (Department of Natural Resources) to reject permits for the Line 5 pipeline expansion. This despite a massive and costly campaign that Enbridge ran, sending out “tear and send” postcards to an audience wide enough that some of our supporters received them!
The issues that pipeline opponents wrote about included:
Concerns of the Bad River Band
Hunting, Fishing, and Gathering Rights
Climate Change
The Line 3 Experience
Waterways
Lake Superior
Wetlands
Kakagon and Bad River Sloughs
Copper Falls State Park
Wildlife
Impacts on People and Health
The Need for a New DEIS
We are extremely grateful to Greg Mikkelson,
Ecological Economist at the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy, who led the analysis team and did all the number crunching, and to the 25 volunteers who spent hours reading and tabulating! And a big thank you to all who sent a comment to the DNR. Our actions are making a difference.
"I have heard the tremendous roar of horizontal directional drilling in Northern Minnesota. I have seen the ruptured land. I have taken water samples where the drilling mud floated on the surface of the rivers. I have cried for the destroyed forests." – Bernadette
Water is essential. Water is life. We need it to physically survive, along with all the other plants and animals on this Earth. But it is also more. Our eyes are fed by its beauty. Our ears, by its soothing music. It has the power to make us clean. Cool us off on a hot day. Carry us to new shores. To be an enemy of water is to be an enemy of ourselves." - Jennifer
Thank you for all you have done and will do to preserve our clean water in Wisconsin.
Even something as small as writing a comment, doing a phonebanking shift, or liking our posts to spread the word (see above!) adds up to a movement that is getting stronger every day. Please contact our volunteer coordinator Nikki Darga at nikki.darga@350Wisconsin.org to find a place for you to help! And if you'd like to donate to support our work fighting oil pipelines, click here.
Yours,
Phyllis Hasbrouck, Tar Sands Team Co-Lead
350 Wisconsin<contact@350wisconsin.org>
P.S. Take a look at our analysis of the 32,000 comments that the DNR received, and then pass it on!
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