Update: we will occupy the Capitol en masse. And we will hold the ground as long as it takes. Join us and share widely. #PeopleVsFossilfuels
Update: we are right now blockading the road to the Capitol. Police swarming in by the dozen. Youth climate activists holding the ground with fierceness & with love.
Update: police preparing to make arrests in the streets. They just issued the third and final warning. Paddy wagons have arrived on the scene. Follow along for live updates as this develops.
After nearly 8 years of fierce resistance, we learned that Line 3 will become operational this weekend.
This fight is not over, only shifted, so it's a good time for a refresher: what is Line 3, why should it be stopped, and how can you help? A thread 🧵 (1/9)
Line 3 is a pipeline that crosses 200+ bodies of water and treaty land in northern Minnesota. It's set to carry over half a million barrels of tar sands oil per day from Alberta, Canada through ND, MN, and WI, before being shipped across the country. (2/9)
.@Enbridge claims Line 3 is a "replacement" for another pipeline that has carried oil through MN for decades, but its capacity is nearly 2x that of the old. It also has a brand new route that is rich with pristine wildlife and water bodies including the Mississippi River. (3/9)
Manoomin (wild rice)🌾is lead plaintiff in first ever "Rights of Manoomin" lawsuit filed by White Earth against @mndnr. The agency permitted Enbridge to take 5 billion gallons of water during a drought to build #Line3.
This case is reshaping the law as we know it: a thread (1/6)
@mndnr Plaintiffs are claiming that the DNR violated the rights of manoomin as well as multiple treaty rights to hunt, fish and gather along Line 3's route.
“Manoomin will have its day in court; this is big,” said Michael Fairbanks, chairman of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. (2/6)
@mndnr The move stems from the "Rights of Nature" doctrine, a legal theory acknowledging that an ecosystem is entitled to legal personhood status and has rights to defend itself in a court of law against harms, including environmental degradation caused by projects like Line 3. (3/6)
For those wondering why today @SenAmyKlobuchar literally turned her back on a youth water protector asking for a livable planet . . . Here’s the best explanation we’ve seen so far. #StopLine3
Thank you to @davidsirota for flagging this monumental conflict-of-interest.