A federal appeals court has upheld Enbridge’s right to sue Michigan’s Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, after she revoked the company’s easement to operate its Line 5 pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac.
On Wednesday, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a lower bench was right when it rejected Whitmer’s claims that the state was constitutionally shielded from the energy company’s legal challenge.
“We hold that Enbridge’s lawsuit is not barred by sovereign immunity and affirm the district court’s order denying the defendants’ motion to dismiss,” said Judge Rachel Bloomekatz, a Biden appointee, writing the opinion for the court.
Bloomekatz was also joined in the opinion by Judge Karen Nelson Moore, a Clinton pick, and Judge Raymond Kethledge, a George W. Bush pick.
