The controversial Line 3 pipeline replacement could be operational as soon as next month and the Biden administration has given no indication it will step in to halt the project — even as protesters march on the nation’s capital, lawmakers stew and legal fights heat up.
Protesters say the pipeline bringing tar sands oil from Canada into the U.S. threatens hundreds of miles of pristine wetlands, violates tribal sovereignty and warms the global climate.
Indigenous groups and climate activists say Line 3 poses a significant risk of oil spills that could destroy precious water resources, wetlands, and ancestral lands.
Biden has pledged to make environmental justice, including native rights, a cornerstone of his climate policy, but his response to Line 3 remains uncertain.
The President has almost certainly settled one of this country’s greatest environmental battles, but he will also get to help decide the fates of two other critical fossil-fuel projects.
