Statement by Jay Inslee in Opposition to Enbridge Energy's Minnesota Line 3 Pipeline

Inslee calls on fellow 2020 candidates to join him in standing against the fossil fuel project

Seattle, WA – Governor Jay Inslee announced his opposition to Enbridge Energy's Minnesota Line 3 and the proposed pipeline to replace it today, condemning the project as a public health threat and giveaway to the fossil fuel industry. Inslee called on his fellow candidates for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination to join him in speaking out against the project.

Line 3 stretches across Minnesota, and its replacement would grow the pipeline's Minnesota footprint to 337 miles with capacity to carry nearly 32 million gallons of oil per day. The current Line 3 is responsible for the largest inland oil spill in the history of the United States.

Today's announcement follows Inslee's recent call for an end to the Michigan Enbridge Line 5 pipeline and its proposed replacement. Inslee joins environmental experts and local advocacy groups calling for Line 3 and Line 5's decommission, but remains the only presidential candidate to publicly oppose both pipelines.

Read Inslee's statement on the Line 3 pipeline below:

"Minnesota families deserve that we put their health and clean water above Enbridge Energy's corporate profits. Line 3 should be decommissioned as soon as possible and the permitting process for the proposed replacement should not move forward. Not only do Line 3 and its proposed replacement pose a threat to drinking water for Minnesotans across the state, but they show a complete disregard for 1855 Treaty Territory and the Indigenous people who rely on the headwaters in Minnesota for hunting, fishing and harvesting wild rice.

"To defeat the climate crisis, we must transition our economy off fossil fuels to an economy run on clean energy and that begins with rejecting new fossil fuel infrastructure. Line 3 uses Minnesota as a shortcut to move Canadian Tar Sands oil from Alberta to Superior, WI and across America for export. The time has come to move on from last century's infrastructure that is dangerous for the health and well-being of Americans.

"I want to thank the Tribal nations, activists and young people who have been tirelessly fighting to protect Minnesota from the dangerous Line 3 pipeline. I encourage my fellow Democratic candidates to join me in opposition this pipeline."