Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., chairman of the House Progress Caucus, joined a protest in his home state Saturday against a proposed pipeline project between Minnesota and Canada. Environmental activists hope to stall the project much like the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline project and make it a new rallying point for activists.
“Grassroots action is the best way to get our leaders to #ActOnClimate. Proud to march in #MN today #StopTarSands,” Ellison tweeted.
Several hundred protesters converged on St. Paul to oppose a $44 billion project to carry heavy crude oil obtained from Canada’s tar sands across Minnesota to Lake Superior. Enbridge, a Calgary-based energy company that has the world’s longest oil pipeline network, is behind the project.
Green groups are adamantly opposed, arguing the projects will simply increase pollution and multiply the likelihood of spills. Saturday’s protest was organized by the Sierra Club and local state groups.
The protest comes one day after Minnesota regulators approved a $2.6 billion project called the Sandpiper Pipeline, which would carry North Dakota-drilled crude oil to other pipelines supplying refineries in the East and Midwest.
