Line 5 Approval Protest
media release: A broad coalition of activists including Indigenous water protectors and international climate justice organizers will rally at the Wisconsin DNR's headquarters to protest its recent approval of a permit to begin construction on a reroute of the Line 5 oil pipeline in northern Wisconsin.
Monday, January 13, 9 am- meet and rally at State Capitol; march to DNR headquarters, 101 S. Webster St.; 10 am- rally at DNR headquarters
The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and supporters have been fighting to decommission Line 5 for years, pointing to the looming threat of an oil spill, parent company Enbridge’s violation of Bad River’s sovereignty and treaty rights, and the need to discontinue fossil fuel extraction to address the climate crisis. The DNR’s approval of the permit will extend Line 5’s lifespan and continue dependence on fossil fuels for decades, and comes immediately following an oil spill by Enbridge’s Line 6 in Jefferson County, Wisconsin. This rally by a broad coalition of activists protests this decision and calls for the decommissioning of Line 5 to protect the water, land, and people of Wisconsin and beyond.
More information can be found at this interview on WORT recorded Friday, January 10: Local and International Climate and Justice Activists Unite.
International and local activists include Nookomis Debra Topping, from Nagajiiwanong (Fond du Lac Reservation) Minnesota, co-founder of R.I.S.E. (Resilient Indigenous Sisters Engaging) Coalition; Olivier Huard, a Montreal-based activist who is the co-founder of the Antigone Collective, a collective of climber-activists, and Life Defends Itself, a citizen campaign focused on the shut down of the Enbridge Line 9; and a sizeable group of other local and international anti-pipeline and climate justice activists.
Groups Organizing the event include: The Cross Border Organizing Working Group: an international group of activists and Indigenous leaders working to shut down Enbridge’s Line 5. Communities United By Water: Grassroots communities with a long tradition of protecting waters of the Great Lakes Basin.