Indigenous Energy Justice 2021
A young Line 3 warrior in Palisade, Minn., near a Line 3 construction site. Credit: Alex Kormann/Star Tribune, via Associated Press
Indigenous Energy Justice 2021
By Kim smith and Charlotte grubb
As the Green New Deal gains traction on the national level, how is a tar sands pipeline that violates Anishinaabe treaties being rapidly built? As he did with Keystone XL, Biden could cancel the Army Corps permits through an executive order. The Biden-Harris administration rode on the platform of taking “executive action to tackle the climate crisis at home and abroad while creating good-paying union jobs and equitable clean energy future, building modern and sustainable infrastructure, restoring scientific integrity and evidence-based policymaking across the federal government, and re-establishing the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.”
Now what does that mean for and look like of Indigenous Nations in the so called USA? Biden quickly drew headlines with the plans to halt drilling on the arctic national refuge, appointed Laguna Pueblo member Deb Haaland to the Secretary of the Interior, but the fight for Native rights and clean energy is far from over. The Dakota Access Pipeline is still pumping oil and at least one third of Line 3 has been constructed. We need to shut down these projects to get us closer to the goal of a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035.
While these are great achievements, we must always keep in mind is what does this “Just Transition” look like for ALL Indigenous nations, not just those in elite decision-making circles. To make these renewable energy goals means more mining at Oak Flat. More water mining from Dine’ and Hopi Aquifers.
Photo by: BEN HOVLAND
Native warriors lead hundreds of marchers to a spot near where the Line 3 pipeline will cross under the Mississippi River during a protest on Jan. 9, 2021.
Rep Ilhan Omar visited Line 3 in January 2021 and called on Biden to put an end to Line 3 in the same way he did for the Keystone XL pipeline. It’s great that Rep Ilhan Omar was out there, but we need an executive order canceling the Army Corps permits and we need them now. It’s hard to know exact construction progress, but it’s estimated that the pipe will be halfway to two thirds built by June.
There are so many different ways to fight a pipeline, and we’re feeling inspired to see some tried and true methods being used in Line 3. People have been camped out in single digits in the snow and THROWING DOWN with your classic lockdowns, occupations and blockades. Since December 1, 2020 150 people have been arrested since construction began .In March, 26 water protectors were arrested and still nothing is being done. Line 3 resistance is also part of a larger divestment campaign, Mazaska talks (“money talks”), that Line 3 is a part protest banks that fund fossil fuel projects. There is an enormous amount of action all the time, follow Giniw Collective for the latest.
On March 29, land defenders set up a prayer lodge on the pipeline route. In this video you can see the MN Sheriff’s department sawing apart the prayer lodge to make sure the pipeline that is ruining our earth and land can be put through. Anishanaabe Auntie Tania Aubid (WE LOVE YOU!) recently endured a hunger strike to call attention to Line 3. We are constantly inspired by all of those taking fierce action on the frontline to defend our land and dignity. OG matriarchs and aunties have been fighting this Line 3 Pipeline since 2013. Winona Laduke spend most of her 50’s standing tall to slay this snake in Northern Minnesota. She also has brilliantly devised solution based plans to counter the oppressive energy system. Creating new economies AND righting against the pipeline, hosting jingle dress healing dances at the MN State Legislatures to make their demands. They’ve created and inspired innovative ways to draw attention to what is happening.
Photo by: KEREM YUCEL / AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Winona LaDuke, center, and water protectors stand in front of the Line 3 construction site in January.
These water and land defenders have been harassed and surveilled by cops who have used the guise of the “PPE” budget item and have used taxpayer dollars to purchase materials to suppress protests along the pipeline route, including batons, gas masks and saws. The existing Line 3 is an Enbridge pipeline that ships crude oil from Alberta, Canada to Superior, Wisconsin. It spans northern Minnesota, crossing the Leech Lake and Fond du Lac reservations and the l855, 1854, and l842 treaty areas. It was built with defective steel in l96l, has had numerous ruptures and spills, and is running at half pressure because of severe corrosion. Instead of cleaning this up, Enbridge wants to abandon the old Line 3 and build a larger pipeline with higher volume, in a new corridor. Another pipeline is being built even as the threat of climate change is as urgent as ever. Line 3 will carry about 170 billion kilograms of carbon dioxide per year, equivalent to about 50 coal power plants, or 38 million vehicles on our roads.
Line 3 will carry tar sands, one of the dirtiest fossil fuel on the planet that are low-quality heavy tar-like oils that are mined from sand or rock. Unlike crude oil, they require an enormous amount of energy to transport and refine. On a lifetime basis, a gallon of gasoline made from tar sands produces about 15% more carbon dioxide emissions than one made from conventional oil.
The Line 3 construction route travels 1,097 miles to transport the tar sands of Canada to Superior, Wisconsin. The 337-mile pipeline through Minnesota crosses more than 200 water ecosystems, and tunnel under 20 rivers, including two crossings of the the Mississippi River, a source of drinking water for millions of people.
In November 2020, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s administration approved the final water permits for Enbridge to complete an expansion of its Line 3 pipeline. Roughly four months into the construction process, Enbridge is racing against the legal clock after years of justified legal delays. There are still pending appeals at the Minnesota Court of Appeals filed by tribes, environmental groups and concerned citizens, including Minnesota’s own state Department of Commerce, which has opposed this project on solid economic and environmental grounds. See here for more detailed information about the timeline and construction process.
As the appeals are being processed in Minnesota courts, the trial of Derek Chauvin is taking place to determine the consequences (or lack thereof) of kneeling on the neck of George Floyd for nearly 10 minutes, and murdering him in the process. The same institutions that lack justice for the family of George Floyd are the same systems that approved the permits for Line 3, despite their dramatic claims that “it feels like a gun to our head” to approve the utility commission permit. These systems that perpetuate white supremacy are connected and continue to prove their complete inadequacy in protecting brown bodies and the land.
The Line 3 battle also reminds us of the battle of Standing Rock, of course. In this historic frontline fight, tens of thousands of water protectors gathered to show solidarity with indigenous groups, protecting the water, and directly challenging the fossil fuel industry and colonialism. The same thing is happening at Line 3- treaty rights are violated, the water is threatened for millions of people, and another carbon bomb is being built at a time of a heating earth causing ecosystem collapse. Will this turn into another Standing Rock? Will it be too late if and when it does? We hope with the end of the pandemic in sight, we’ll see an influx of water protectors standing in solidarity with all those who are there.
Learn more about the history of the Line 3 fight here, find resources at Stopline3.org and we encourage you to sign the petition to Biden get involved in whatever way possible. Ojibwe water protector and tribal attorney Tara Houska has been on the frontline is great to follow, as has Anishinaabe activist and author Winona LaDuke. Jane Fonda has also been vocal and using her platform to draw attention to this issue.
As we continue to fight for land, water, and dignity, we are also inspired by all the other ongoing struggles against colonialism, resource extraction, and white supremacy. Some highlights that have our attention now are Oak Flat, Leau Est La Vie Bayou Bridge camp, Appalachians Against Pipelines fighting the Mountain Valley Pipeline, the Secwepemc Tiny House Warriors stopping the Transmountain Pipeline.