Already, over 140,000 advocates like you have taken action. Will you add your voice to this growing groundswell?

Sincerely
Elizabeth Ward

P.S. Want to learn more? Join us for a webinar on September 19 about the fight to shut down Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline.

My name is Elizabeth and I'm the director of the Wisconsin Chapter. I'm writing to you today because I care deeply about shutting down the Line 5 pipeline and protecting the Great Lakes. We're lucky here in Wisconsin to have both Lake Superior and Lake Michigan, which provide drinking water for 42 million people. Our clean water, habitats, and livelihoods are threatened by potential oil spills and pollution from Line 5. We can't take that risk.

Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline transports 22 million gallons of crude oil and natural gas liquids across 645 miles from Superior, Wisconsin through Michigan and back to Canada. Every. Single. Day.

In the last 50 years, the pipeline has had dozens of spills, releasing more than 1.1 million gallons of toxic oil into our environment.

Local residents including members of the Bad River Band and other Ojibwe Tribes have had enough.¹ The moment to act is now. That's why, last month, I joined hundreds of advocates in Wisconsin at a public hearing in person to protect our planet and future.

We have a real chance to shut down this environmental and health disaster. Will you take action right now?

Line 5 is a pipeline run by a multi-billion dollar corporation, Enbridge. It is currently operating illegally, violating the Bad River Band's sovereignty. Enbridge is trying to expand and operate the pipeline for years to come, putting the nearby water, plants, animals, and communities at risk of more oil spills and threatening the treaty reserved rights held by Bad River and ten other Ojibwe tribes.

The construction of a reroute threatens significant damage and would for decades extend the risk to the Great Lakes, which contain 84 percent of North America's surface fresh water.

The Biden Administration has the opportunity to order Line 5 be shut down, but instead they are considering permitting the pipeline's reroute in Wisconsin, allowing its continued operation into the future.

But we know our collective voices can urge the Biden administration to reverse course. Our public comments are part of the public pressure needed to see action. If enough of us speak up, especially if we leave personal messages, we can demand the Biden administration act before oil spills into these precious waters.

We have until August 4 to submit these comments. This is a critical time for us to show the Biden Administration that it must take measurable action on climate change.

We can't miss one of our last opportunities to stand in solidarity with the Bad River Band, whose sovereign rights are being ignored by Enbridge's attempt to profit off this dirty pipeline. If the reroute gets built, it will be much more challenging to shut down Line 5.

Take action now, and be sure to add a personal comment about why you care about this issue to have the greatest impact.

Our collective action can help protect the climate, the Great Lakes, and the treaty-reserved rights held by the Bad River Band. Thank you for all that you do to move this work forward.

Elizabeth Ward
Wisconsin Chapter Director

1. Native American Rights Fund, "Tribes unite in Opposition to the Line 5 Pipeline," March 8, 2024.