Tag: Enbrdige

Wadena, MN: Three Water Protectors Lock Inside Line 3 Pipeline Segment

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 16, 2021
Contact: giniw@protonmail.com
(Wadena, MN) Tuesday morning, 3 water protectors locked to one another inside of a Line 3 pipeline segment near the Crow Wing River while dozens more rallied in support.
As water protectors sang and danced for the river, those locked inside the pipe lifted up the struggle of Indigenous peoples and the voices of future generations not yet born.
The location is near the proposed crossing by Line 3 through the Crow Wing River, one of the frozen rivers Enbridge applied to drill under and was denied.
Multiple tribally-led lawsuits are yet to be heard as Enbridge works non-stop to bulldoze Line 3 through Anishinaabe territory and the hundreds of wetlands and water bodies that lie in its path. The route is through an area untouched by tar sands infrastructure, as Enbridge plans to build a new corridor for its lines.
Ariee Shaw said, “There are two sides in this fight against Line 3. Those protecting water, land, food, and Indigenous sovereignty. And those protecting corporate greed and earth’s destruction. I’m locking down today because I know what side I’m on.”
Jack Keenan said, “I am locking down in solidarity with the Anishinaabe, the Wet’suwet’en, and all people whose survival is threatened by so-called “critical infrastructure.” To risk the health of waterways and wild rice beds in service of fossil fuel extraction is insanity; to disregard the lives and livelihoods of Indigenous peoples is genocide, plain and simple.”
Rae said, “My name is Rae. I am in northern “MN” fighting the Line 3 pipeline. When I am not here, I am a student at Macalester College. I have taken classes on white supremacy, colonization, and capitalism at Macalester. It markets itself as a place engaged with social justice yet is invested directly in the financial industries behind Enbridge’s Line 3. As we put our bodies on the line, Macalester’s hypocrisy is palpable. Macalester produces performative allyship. The only tangible way I have found to actively engage in anti-colonial work is by distancing myself from capitalism, following Indigenous wisdom of Giniw Collective, and engaging in direct action to Stop Line 3.”
Felix said, “Line 3 is carving a path of death and destruction to sacred water, ecosystems, relationships, and the Indigenous people who steward these lands. It affect all of us — anyone who drinks water. We must protect the land, honor the treaties, and stop Line 3. Extractive industries serve the white man’s greed and have no accountability to the wild and sacred. To this — we say no more. We all have a role in this fight. So find yours, be in solidarity with each other, especially with Indigenous land and Water Protectors.”

Park Rapids, MN: 8 Water Protectors Blockade Line 3 Fueling Station

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cross-posted from the Giniw Collective
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 4, 2021
Contact: giniw@protonmail.com

8 Water Protectors Blockade Line 3 Fueling Station

(Park Rapids, MN) Thursday morning, 8 water protectors locked to one another with barrels of concrete and a piano blockaded an Enbridge fueling station and worksite as dozens more held space.
As piano music floated through the early morning light, Water Protectors sang and uplifted the Native-led struggle to protect Anishinaabe territory, sacred wild rice, and stand with Mother Earth. Line 3 poses a 10% expansion of tar sands production; tar sands is the dirtiest fossil fuel on earth.
The location is near the proposed crossing by Line 3 through the Shell River, one of many river crossings sought by Enbridge, including the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Last weekend, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar visited the Mississippi headwaters and the Giniw Collective encampment, one of several along the route.
Many of the Water Protectors onsite traveled from the northeast to act in solidarity with Anishinaabe peoples here in Minnesota.
Tyler Schaeffer said, “I’m profoundly concerned about the future of life on our planet and my deepest desire is for future generations to grow up safe in a world that hasn’t been wrecked by greed and shortsightedness. Where water is clean to drink. Where we’ve come back to balance and honor the earth as sacred. It’s time we follow the lead and wisdom of indigenous peoples with humility and courage.”
Reina Palm, a teacher from mid-coast Maine, said, “I am here first and foremost to follow indigenous leadership. I am 24 years old and my whole life I have felt the pull and beauty of our world and home. I remember being 4 years old and learning about climate change and the destruction of land and peoples and being deeply frightened. It is only becoming more urgent and necessary to act. Line 3 travels through so many wild lands, waters, and indigenous homes. It draws a clear picture of destruction in its path. I know it is easy to feel vulnerable, scared, tired, and discouraged. But together we can with the power of community and love, stop line 3.”
Noah McKenna, a landscaper from Massachusetts said, “When government fails to honor treaties and ensure a just transition, we must act directly. I am honored to put my body on the line in solidarity with indigenous resistance to protect mother earth and all of our futures. Together we can stop line 3!”
Jay O’har, a Quaker from Portland, ME, said, “As a person of faith I am moved to action by a call from indigenous leadership to protect the water and defend treaty rights from a government corporate power that continue to perpetuate the false doctrine of discovery and supremacy. For me this is a call to shared liberation to stop Line 3 and build a new relationship to the earth and among all people.” Jay continued, “Our group is here to follow indigenous leadership, defend life, stop line 3, and embody as much love as possible. We are a network committed to climate action and racial justice. We follow BIPOC leadership whenever we can and practice reparations.”
Ethan Hughes said, “I have two daughters and I care about all children’s future. I will do anything I can to protect life while following BIPOC leadership. Risk aversion leads to great harm.” Ethan continued, “I was a marine biologist and educator when I saw the ocean collapsing, I became a water protector. I also follow indigenous leadership because they hold and have fought to protect for 100s of years a wisdom much more profound than science. A wisdom humanity desperately needs at this time for our collective survival and liberation. I am also here for my daughters and all children. Line 3 represents the destruction of the Mississippi watershed, breaking the treaties, oppression of indigenous people, speeding up the climate crisis, and sixth mass extinction. It is time to risk everything for love and justice. Together we will stop line 3.”
Briana Halliwell, a Quaker from New England Yearly Meeting, said, “I travelled from Maine to stand in solidarity with the indigenous peoples of northern Minnesota in resistance to the Line 3 Pipeline expansion that cuts through hundreds of miles of Anishinaabe treaty territory. I am here to life up the voices of the people, animals, landscapes, and watersheds whose voices have historically been unrecognized, erased, or not understood by the patriarchal dominant culture of separation and white supremacy that founded this country and continues to destroy, not honor or create life.”
Erin, a farmer and educator from Massachusetts, said, “I am here as an act of love for my godkids and the land that raised me. I am here to do all I can to give our communities a chance to survive and to minimize suffering. I am here as a small step to address the devastation caused by white settlers and to the native peoples of this place. Line 3 is one of the largest fossil fuel pipeline projects in the world, and is slated to carry tar sands oil, polluting MN and adding to the devastation of the climate chaos. I am here because stopping line 3 is one of the highest impact things we can do to address climate chaos and uphold US treaties. Together we can stop line 3.”
Dan Truesdale of Southwest Michigan said, “I am here to stand in solidarity with indigenous leadership to honor the earth. We need climate justice and racial justice now and together we will stop line 3.”
Shawn Gregory, a community worker from Southeast Texas, said, “I just care so much about the health of people who I love, especially my nephew and future generations. I don’t want to live with regret, so I have to act in whatever way I know how to stop Line 3 and follow the leadership of indigenous communities. Together we will stop line 3.”
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Water Protectors Lock Down Inside Line 3 Pipeline

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pics via Giniw Collective

cross-posted from the Giniw Collective

(Backus, MN) Thursday morning, water protectors locked to each other inside a Line 3 pipe segment, halting construction at an Enbridge worksite as dozens more held space.

The site is a few miles from a large Enbridge man camp operating in the township of Backus, Minnesota. Enbridge is working 24 hours per day at several worksites, as a pending injunction to halt work while tribally-led lawsuits are heard has yet to be decided.

According to several cultural site maps, numerous sacred and significant sites lie in the path of the Line 3 project.

Water Protector Abby Hornberger said, “After moving to Minnesota to attend college and study environmental science, I was excited to be in a place where people valued protecting the earth and finding a viable future. What I found, however, was a state that had formed “ambitious” climate goals yet endorsed one of the dirtiest fossil fuels, tar sands oil. I realized that indigenous ways of knowing and practicing harmony with the environment are continuously ignored. The Line 3 pipeline far outweighs all clean energy initiatives and progress being made in renewable energies. Line 3 will destroy Minnesota’s essential clean water resources for future generations and will ultimately drive us into climate doom. Education and spreading awareness is no longer enough to create meaningful change for me.”
Hornberger continued, “Enbridge’s last ditch effort to build fossil fuel infrastructure is killing people and the planet. I refuse to be complicit in settler colonialist practices, and feel that I have to put my body on the line to protect indigenous communities’ sovereignty and all of our futures. This is not just an issue relevant to some, it affects each of us on a deeper level that goes beyond our daily lives. It determines if we will have a livable future.” Continue reading

Water Protectors Lock to Enbridge Office Gates, Work Halted

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photo via Ginew

Cross-posted from Stop Line 3

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 19, 2019
Contact: ginew@protonmail.com
ayse@ran.org

Water Protectors Lock to Enbridge Office Gates, Work Halted

Bemidji, MN — In the early morning, 6 water protectors locked to the gates of a key Enbridge office in Bemidji, MN in protest of proposed tar sands pipeline project Line 3. 2 chained their necks to the gate, risking personal safety for the hundreds of watersheds Enbridge proposes to send nearly 1M barrels of tar sands from Alberta through on its way to the shores of Lake Superior.

Enbridge responded by closing its office for the day.

Wild rice season is nearing, in which Anishinaabe people will take to their canoes to harvest the sacred food that is at the heart of Anishinaabe culture. Enbridge plans to send tar sands through dozens of wild rice watersheds, irrevocably impacting its growth and survival.

Line 3 is one proposed infrastructure project out of the Alberta tar sands, alongside TransCanada’s Keystone XL and Kinder Morgan’s TransMountain pipelines. Tar sands is the dirtiest fossil fuel in the world. Weeks ago, the Teck Frontier Mine, a proposed tar sands expansion twice the size of Vancouver was recommended by a board of Canadian environmental regulators.

“As an able-bodied and willing person, it is my duty to stand with Anishinaabe people who are putting their lives on the line every day standing up for all of us, for all of our water.” Kieran Cuddy said, while locked to the front gate of Enbridge’s office.

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