More than 2,000 water protectors stage nonviolent actions to halt construction of Enbridge’s Line 3 toxic tar sands pipeline

photo: Giniw Collective

From the Treaty People Gathering

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, June 7th

CONTACT: media@treatypeoplegathering.com or 320-496-6304

 

BREAKING: More than 2,000 water protectors stage nonviolent actions to halt construction of Enbridge’s Line 3 toxic tar sands pipeline

Indigenous leaders and allies call on Biden to stop construction of the pipeline and protect water and land while honoring Anishinaabe treaties.

Northern Minnesota— In Minnesota’s largest ever anti-pipeline mobilization, water protectors Monday morning halted construction of Enbridge’s Line 3 toxic tar sands pipeline. Over 1000 people marched with Indigenous leaders to the headwaters of the Mississippi River for a treaty ceremony at the site where the pipeline is proposed to cross. Further south, over 500 Indigenous people, allies, and celebrities shut down an active Line 3 pump station in a massive direct action in solidarity with the Giniw Collective, an Indigenous women, two-spirit-led frontline land defense group.

These actions are a part of the Treaty People Gathering, a mass mobilization of more than 2,000 people planned by Indigenous-led groups, communities of faith, and climate justice organizations, and the beginning of a summer of resistance. Participants are calling on President Biden to stop Line 3, which opponents say threatens Northern Minnesota’s waters, the global climate, and Anishinaabe treaty rights. “Our ancestors made agreements to take care of this water and land forever together, and now is our time to do that.” said Winona LaDuke of Honor The Earth.

At day break, hundreds of land defenders reached the Two Inlets Line 3 pump station . Some climbed ladders or locked themselves to equipment, while others blockaded the entrance, and held space. Jane Fonda, Winona LaDuke, Tara Houska, Catherine Keener, Rosanna Arquette,Taylor Shilling, Siihasin Senior, and Big Wind gave remarks from inside the active pump station. Water Protectors are currently occupying the station and pitching tents.

“Our Mother is calling out, it’s time for us to listen or do the work to remember how. It’s also time for us to all stand with our words. The situation is urgent, it requires urgent response. Find your bravery, find your community, find your truth. Stand with us and Stop Line 3,” said Tara Houska for Giniw Collective.

One locked down Water Protector said, “Think about the water you drink every day. Think about the fact

photo: Giniw Collective

that a human can’t live more than three days without water. Think of what you would do if a corporation just took that from you. So many Indigenous bodies have gone towards protecting the resources that we all benefit from and everyone should think about how they can be someone who actually defends the water and isn’t just somebody who is using it.”

The treaty ceremony at the headwaters, led by the RISE Coalition, was followed by remarks from the visiting celebrities alongside Bill McKibben, Dawn Goodwin, and Nancy Beaulieau. Participants are now holding space on the easement along the banks of the Mississippi and are prepared to stay.

“For years we have tried to assert our sovereignty and speak out against Line 3. We still have time to save our sacred waters and land— our life sources.” said Dawn Goodwin, co-founder of the RISE Coalition.

As Enbridge prepares to drill under 22 Minnesota rivers and over 200 water bodies, including the headwaters of the Mississippi River, the movement of water protectors opposing the controversial Line 3 pipeline is growing quickly with 2,000 people participating in direct action and prayer vigils in multiple locations along the pipeline route today.

“We called this mobilization the Treaty People Gathering because we are all treaty people. Our non-native allies have a responsibility to stand with us against projects like the Line 3 pipeline that put our Anishinaabe lifeways at risk. Today, we’re taking a stand for our right to hunt, fish, and gather, and for the future of the climate,” said Nancy Beaulieau, Northern Minnesota Organizer with MN350 and co-founder of the RISE coalition.

Anishinaabe tribes and allied groups have been resisting the construction of Line 3 across Minnesota since it was proposed in 2014. Since construction began in December of last year, more than 250 people had already been arrested protesting construction. On May 26th, more than 300 organizations submitted a letter today to the Biden Administration calling for President Biden to direct the Army Corps of Engineers to immediately re-evaluate and suspend or revoke Enbridge’s Line 3 Clean Water Act Section 404 permit.

Although Enbridge calls this project a “replacement,” it includes 337 miles of new larger pipe, half of which is in a new corridor crossing more than 200 bodies of water, far from Enbridge’s other pipes. The new pipeline would initially be able to transport almost twice as much crude oil as existing Line 3.

Tribal governments, climate groups, and the Minnesota State Department of Commerce have sued in state court to revoke the pipeline’s “Certificate of Need” arguing that the additional oil supply is not needed and the especially carbon intensive tar sands oil will contribute to catastrophic climate change. Analysis has shown that building Line 3 would unlock the emissions equivalent to building 50 coal plants.

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**Photos for use can be found in this folder, more will be uploaded throughout the day:

Credit “Giniw Collective” for all photos in the subfolder “From the Giniw Collective”

Get Trained. Take the fight to Line 3.

While Enbridge’s effort to build the Line 3 pipeline is beginning to resume, our resistance to this horrible project grows in size and militancy. Last week, water protectors in Minnesota took action to stop oil giant Enbridge’s assault on the regions waterways by disrupting another work site with direct action.

Enbridge is just weeks away from resuming large scale construction on 22 waterways, including the headwaters of the Mississippi River. And we need to meet it with mass direct action.

From June 5th-8th, we’ll be gathering in Minnesota for the Treaty People Gathering to rise for the treaties, the water and for one another.This means we need to organize, train and follow the Indigenous-led leadership on the ground in Minnesota.

This is an Indigenous-led movement and Rising Tide North America is following those leaders on the ground in Minnesota. 

Here’s a couple of places to plug in:

Line 3 is a proposed pipeline to bring nearly a million barrels of toxic tar sands per day from Alberta, Canada to Superior, Wisconsin– through sacred wild rice beds, and the headwaters of the Mississippi. Grassroots resistance to the Line 3 pipeline has resulted in hundreds of actions across the country, and around the world.

Our goal is to stop it. To do that, we need you.

 

Water Protectors Blockade Line 3 Construction Ahead of Full-Scale Assault on Minnesota Waterways

cross-posted from Giniw Collective

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 24, 2021
Contact: giniw@protonmail.com

(Crow Wing, MN) Today, water protectors locked to each other through the treads of excavators tearing through the Earth constructing the Line 3 tar sands pipeline.

Enbridge is just weeks away from resuming full-scale construction through Minnesota’s wetlands and drilling 22 rivers, including the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Biden’s administration has expressed deep concern at the growing resistance in Northern Minnesota. To date, over 250 Water Protectors, largely young people, have been arrested through Minnesota’s hard winter protecting the sacred.

One water protector said, “I’m taking action today to prevent our societies continual reliance on fossil fuels. The flow of oil in Line 3 affects the rising sea levels of my home in New York City and I am honored to be working with Anishinaabe leadership in our collective struggle.”

Water Protector Chris said, “Enbridge should not be allowed to continue to commit its crimes against humanity, against ecosystems, and its assault on Ojibwe bodies & terrritories. We must stop Line 3!”
Mathew of New Orleans said, “I am here because we are fighting this pipeline, but beacuse we are fighting all pipelines. We no longer need to expand our fossil fuel infrastructure, when we are already in a moment of global climate apartheid. ”

Another water protector from Austin, Texas, said, “If we allow this pipeline to be put in, water will be poisoned, and people will die. We need to take responsibility for our water and our friends. Together we can Stop Line 3!
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Rising Tide Chicago: Chase Bank Board Member Gets Climate Justice Wake Up Call

cross-posted from Rising Tide Chicago

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 17, 2021
Contact: Cailie Kafura, she/her pronouns, organizer, Rising Tide Chicago, cailiekafura@gmail.com, 715-938-1563
The day before the JP Morgan Chase Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, Board Member James Crown awakens to activists calling him out for fossil fuel funding
CHICAGO, IL — Early this morning, activists from Rising Tide Chicago made a ruckus to awaken JPMorgan Chase Board member, James Crown, and neighbors, in their quiet Gold Coast neighborhood. James Crown is one of the bank’s executives responsible for allocating billions of dollars towards fossil fuel funding. This timely action comes one day prior to JPMorgan’s Annual Meeting for Shareholders. Activists unfurled a massive banner along the street in front of his home that stated, “James Crown Lets Chase Fund Climate Crisis”.
“The extractive industry is propped up by those who fund it, and those who fund it have names and addresses. Chase Bank’s executive James Crown has made the decision to invest in climate chaos and genocide, so we are making the decision to give him a wake up call.” – Cailie Kafura, organizer, Rising Tide Chicago (she/her pronouns)
The $317 billion Chase has poured into fossil fuels over the past four years has enabled pipeline construction that poisons Indigenous land and water, and increases sexual violence and murder of Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people. Over the past decade, pipeline projects have been responsible for spilling 800,000 barrels of oil in the U.S., with more hazards anticipated in the future if these projects continue. Environmental and Indigenous groups have been protesting against pipeline projects for decades, raising concern for their impacts on communities, ecosystems, and the climate.
“Corporations, especially banks and the fossil fuel industry, have placed the majority of the burden on us to reduce our carbon footprint to help solve the climate crisis.  We are here today to hold these companies accountable and say no more. James Crown is in a position of power as a Chase board member and is therefore complicit in the destruction of our planet. We are here today to let him know that we are aware of his actions and to urge him to make future decisions based on planet over profit.” – Emily Murphy, organizer, Rising Tide Chicago (she/her pronouns)
Rising Tide Chicago uses direct action and education to confront the root causes of climate change, which include capitalism and white supremacy. Organizers target banks like Chase because without their funding, pipelines like Line 3 can’t be built. We urge readers to raise awareness and funds for the frontlines, and take action in solidarity with the Movement to Stop Line 3.

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