Turns out all the hoopla over the Line 5 Relocation isn’t as bad as we’re being led to believe. In fact, the number of Wisconsinites who approve of the project considerably outnumber the opposition according to the final comments posted to the DNR’s project website. So what’s that mean?
Here’s Five Fast Facts on Line 5:
- 🤔Refresh My Memory - It’s a 645-mile-long pipeline that moves 540,000 barrels of light and synthetic crude oil and natural gas across the state. In 2018, Chippewa Indians successfully sued to have the pipeline rerouted off their land. The re-route includes 41 new miles of project.
- 🛢️What’s the Problem? - Environmentalists (and other groups) oppose the line altogether due to potential environmental damage like oil spills, leaks and other pollutants. In this case, Bud Lite is not considered a pollutant, but we all know otherwise.
- 🇺🇸Opinions, Please - The DNR must issue a permit for the project to even begin. As part of that process, they opened up a four-month comment period that ended Aug. 17. After it closed, they found that 11,500 people provided support, while 5,300 opposed. That’s almost two to one in favor.
- 👌Anonymous - Most of the supportive commenters identified themselves as Wisconsin residents including organizations representing farmers, small businesses, labor unions, and papermakers. The bulk of those opposed refused to identify what state or country they’re from.
- 👷Do the Work - Enbridge, the company responsible for the project, has predicted the pipeline relocation will create 700 new construction jobs and provide millions of dollars of tax revenue.
🔥Bottom line: A project like this is always going to find understandable opposition. Something needs to be done to solve the issue since it deals with an important part of our state and national infrastructure. People in charge believe Enbridge has the best plan. The environmental concerns do have some validity, but sometimes you can’t stop progress.
What do you think of Line 5?
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