Facing increasing political pressure over the rising cost of fuels, the Biden administration is still considering shutting down a key pipeline in Michigan — a move that has drawn further scrutiny of its energy policies.
The White House this week defended its decision earlier this year to conduct an environmental review on a pipeline, known as Line 5, that runs through Michigan and into Canada. Although the administration began the review in June, the decision has received renewed attention in light of skyrocketing gas prices and the administration’s ineffective attempts to mitigate them.
Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered Enbridge, the Canadian company that operates Line 5, to shut down the pipeline by May 12, which came and went without action from Enbridge.
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION WADES INTO MICHIGAN OIL PIPELINE FIGHT WITH ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Enbridge is continuing to fight the order in court, and the case has focused on whether the state or the federal government has the authority to shut down the pipeline in a battle that also has implications for the U.S.-Canada relationship.
Canadian leaders have pushed to keep oil flowing through the pipeline, as Line 5 supplies a significant amount of fuel to Canada.
Last month, Canadian officials invoked a provision of a 1977 treaty that prevents either country from stopping energy flows between the United States and Canada.
But environmental activists are putting pressure on President Joe Biden to deny permits Enbridge is seeking to revitalize a key portion of Line 5, which is now 68 years old.
The pipeline provides the majority of Michigan’s propane. Line 5 also supplies 65% of the Upper Peninsula’s propane demand and 55% of Michigan’s propane demand overall, according to Enbridge.
The company says the pipeline transports up to 540,000 barrels a day of crude oil and natural gas liquid.
Just 4.5 miles of the pipeline, which runs more than 600 miles in total, is underwater in the Straits of Mackinac, but activists argue the risk of an oil spill in the Great Lakes is too grave to allow it to keep operating.
Enbridge maintains that the section of Line 5 that crosses the straits has never leaked in the 65 years it has been transporting fuel. However, environmental groups note that because the pipeline has leaked elsewhere along its route, its continued existence threatens Michigan’s drinking water supply.
WHITE HOUSE DEFENDS REVIEW OF MICHIGAN PIPELINE AMID HIGH GAS PRICES
Protesters have targeted the pipeline with increasing intensity in recent months. In October, activists gathered at a valve site along Line 5 to demand that Enbridge comply with Whitmer’s order that the pipeline cease operations by next summer, and one activist took to the valve with a wrench, forcing the company to shut down the pipeline temporarily.
The focus on the pipeline comes as gas prices soar across the country and people stare down the possibility of high utility bills ahead of the holidays.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said on Sunday that people should expect that heating their homes in winter “will be more expensive this year than last year” due to fuel supply problems. Despite this, Granholm last week laughed off the notion of encouraging more domestic oil production, insisting that matters are exclusively in OPEC’s hands.
More than a dozen Republican lawmakers from the Midwest sent a letter to Biden last week warning of the economic shock that would occur if Line 5 was shut down.
“Line 5 is essential to the lifeblood of the Midwest. Should this pipeline be shut down, tens of thousands of jobs would be lost across Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and the region; billions of dollars in economic activity would be in jeopardy; and the environment would be at greater risk due to additional trucks operating on roadways and railroads carrying hazardous materials,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter.
The Republicans argued that closing Line 5 would also “undoubtedly further exacerbate shortages and price increases in home heating fuels like natural gas and propane at a time when Americans are already facing rapidly rising energy prices.”
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Confronting higher prices at the pump, which are now the most expensive in seven years, Biden has demanded that oil-producing countries increase supply to meet the increased demand that has driven shortages.
However, OPEC countries have rebuffed Biden, and his administration has done little to indicate it will step up domestic production to relieve pressure on people amid the supply issues.
