PROTECT THE GREAT LAKES: SHUTDOWN LINE 5 OIL PIPELINE
Line 5 — a 70-year-old, deteriorating pipeline — carries 87 million liters of oil and gas per day through the heart of the Great Lakes.
The pipeline, operated by Enbridge Energy, sits at the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. According to a University of Michigan study, Line 5 lies in the worst place for an oil spill to occur. A rupture in the pipeline could contaminate up to 1200 km of Great Lakes shoreline in the U.S. and Canada.
The Great Lakes are a source of drinking water for over 30 million people in the US and Canada. They contain 21 per cent of the world’s surface freshwater and 84 per cent of North America’s freshwater. For the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and many Tribal Nations, First Nations, and Métis peoples, the Great Lakes are extremely important waterbodies. Line 5 threatens the waters, lands, and way of life for Indigenous peoples of the area and of all peoples living in nearby shoreline communities.
New analysis shows that we do not need Line 5 in order to reliably meet our present day energy needs. Viable alternatives are within reach and can be utilized relatively soon if the U.S. and Canadian governments decide to prioritize the protection of the Great Lakes and the planet. We can continue to reliably heat our homes and drive our cars without Line 5 and with the current energy infrastructure that we have.
We are urging the Canadian government to:
Take action today and tell the federal government to support the closure of Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline and protect the Great Lakes.
Your letter will be sent to: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Hon. Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, Hon. Marc Miller, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, and Hon. Melanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs