May 26, 2021
President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Biden,
With renewed urgency, as melting ice has left pristine waters perilously unprotected, we are following up our March 8th letter — signed by 370 organizations across the country — to again implore you to take swift action to revoke the Enbridge Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline permit and put a stop to this dramatic undermining of your immediate priorities. As you know, Line 3 poses a significant threat to water, Indigenous rights, and our global climate, and its rushed construction in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic is delivering quantifiable danger to Minnesotan communities and energy workers alike. Worldwide, more than 8 million people died from fossil fuel pollution in 2018 alone — nearly 1 out of 5 total global deaths, and COVID-19 comorbidities were well established in 2020.
Due to the urgency of the climate crisis and the fact that Indigenous leaders have not consented to the Line 3 project, large-scale, non-violent civil disobedience is now being organized for early June along the Line 3 pipeline route. This decision was not made lightly by organizers, especially after witnessing the violent, militarized police response to water protectors at Standing Rock. Yet, due to countless unanswered calls from Indigenous leaders and other experts to halt Line 3 construction, revoke or suspend the 404 permit, or respect Indigenous rights and Treaties, escalation on the ground is now underway. Concerned citizens of all kinds are traveling from across the nation, heeding the call of Indigenous leaders. We are deeply concerned for peoples’ safety and health. None of us want further harms or mass arrests for communities on the ground protecting water, the global climate, and Indigenous lands.
The situation calls for Presidential action.
We urge you to direct the Army Corps of Engineers to immediately reevaluate and suspend or revoke Enbridge’s Line 3 Clean Water Act Section 404 permit. The Army Corps failed to consider significant information on Line 3’s impacts in reaching its original determination, including the risks of oil spills, climate change effects, and consequences to Indigenous peoples. The Army Corps also refused to prepare a federal Environmental Impact Statement for Line 3, despite overwhelming evidence that the project would have significant impacts.