Environmentalists galvanized by a court decision last week that disrupted a Midwest oil pipeline project now see an opportunity to turn up the heat on the Democratic candidate vying to be Michigan’s next governor.
One of the largest grassroots environmental groups in Michigan told POLITICO it’s holding off on endorsing Jocelyn Benson — the Democratic nominee and current secretary of state — until she publicly disavows Enbridge’s proposed Line 5 tunnel project beneath the Straits of Mackinac, which connects Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. The 4-mile tunnel would be bored under the lake bed and encase a replacement segment of the pipeline.
Clean Water Action in Michigan is calling on Benson to oppose the project after the Michigan Supreme Court on Friday ordered state energy regulators to redo their environmental review. The court in a 6-1 decision tossed out the Michigan Public Service Commission’s order approving the tunnel — finding the agency “erred by failing to fully assess the Replacement Project’s potential harms” and whether it will cause Line 5’s “extended operation.”
“Our plan at Clean Water is to continue to push her to actually take a stance on the tunnel,” said Emily Woodcock, who directs the Clean Water Action in Michigan group, about Benson. “Not just because we need her to and would like her to be opposed to it, but also because she, generally speaking, has a very good environmental platform, and we would like to endorse her.”
