As activists across America reach out to the many presidential candidates buzzing about in key primary states, pipeline opposition is heating up.
Senator Bernie Sanders (VT-I) and Governor Jay Inslee (WA-D) are already shaping up to be climate heroes to citizens facing pipeline battles.
ENBRIDGE LINE 3 PIPELINE
Bernie Sanders put out a video in January opposing Line 3. Today, Jay Inslee, who opposed Line 5 on July 10th, joined him, and opposed Line 3.
The Line 5 and 3 oil pipelines threaten the Great Lakes, and are the early ones candidates are opposing. First-In-The-Nation New Hampshire remains hopeful that Sanders, Inslee or both will oppose the infrastructure overbuild Granite Bridge Pipeline proposed by Liberty Utilities NH.
The Granite Bridge Pipeline (map), that would run from Manchester to the seacoast, would include a 170' tall, 200' diameter liquified natural gas (LNG) storage tank and industrial liquefaction plant in a residential area of Epping.
KINDER MORGAN NED PIPELINE
In November of 2015, Bernie Sanders opposed the Kinder Morgan Northeast Energy Direct (NED) pipeline, which was opposed by both Republicans and Democrats. Conservatives opposed the pipeline largely on the issue of eminent domain.
LIBERTY UTILITIES GRANITE BRIDGE PIPELINE
As Debate 2 approaches, Liberty Utilities has a Granite Bridge open house planned on the same night at the second debate. Activists anxiously wait to see, will Granite Bridge will be the next pipeline opposed?
The pipeline, that would bring methane natural fracked gas from Manchester to the seacoast, would include a 170' tall, 200' diameter gas storage tank and industrial gasification plant in a residential neighborhood of Epping.
Activists who fought the Kinder Morgan NED pipeline have joined local opponents in amplifying voices calling for climate action and renewable energy over fossil fuel expansion.
To date, none of NH's State Senators have spoken in opposition to the pipeline. Despite information sessions, they have not moved from the position that methane natural gas is a bridge fuel and we're not ready to transition to renewables.
ECHO Action has appealed to several candidates, providing detailed information, asking for opposition to Granite Bridge as well as the Weymouth, MA compressor station. We too await the announcements of the strongest climate candidates.
"Democratic presidential candidate Jay Inslee has come out against construction of an oil pipeline proposed in northern Minnesota, elevating the project from a statewide issue to a national one in the race for the White House.
The Washington governor is the second candidate to take a stance on Enbridge’s Line 3, a $2.6 billion project that would cross the Mississippi Headwaters and tribal land over its 337-mile path in Minnesota. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders announced his opposition to the pipeline in January, a month before his presidential campaign began.
So far, the Line 3 project hasn’t drawn attention on the scale of the Keystone XL pipeline or the Dakota Access Pipeline, which sparked months of protests. But it has been a thorny political issue for DFLers in Minnesota, who are split over supporting the project. With Inslee’s announcement and Sanders’ opposition, Line 3 could become a litmus test of climate change policy and tribal solidarity in the Democratic primary. At least five tribal governments have challenged the project in the regulatory process.
On Line 3, Inslee and Sanders contrast with Minnesota’s own presidential hopeful, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who has not taken a clear position for or against the project. When asked what Klobuchar’s stance is on the pipeline and about dissent from tribal governments, her state director, Ben Hill, said only that the DFLer supports environmental review of the project to determine if Line 3 should be built. (State regulators have so far approved the pipeline, although a court recently ordered more environmental study.) "
Stephanie Scherr
Reposted with permission from StephanieScherr.net.
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