Lawsuits, public hearings and more lawsuits and more public hearings, etc., etc., etc.
July 16, 2016
By Jen Eyer
...First, Snyder is telling us he’s unrepentant (click here) about his austerity-driven, pro-business and privatization agenda. Despite the tragic outcome of his emergency management in Flint, the abhorrent results of his privatization of veteran care and prison food, and the havoc that his business tax cuts have wreaked on our state budget, he will continue relentlessly pursuing the ideology that business interests top everything.
Second, Snyder is telling Michiganders that he sides with the interests of Enbridge over the protection of our most precious natural resource. Michigan faces an urgent environmental threat right now from the aging pair of oil pipelines known as Line 5 running beneath the Straits of Mackinac. Line 5 has exceeded its life expectancy, would not be approved today, and is operated by the company responsible for the greatest inland oil spill in U.S. history — also right here in Michigan.
Researchers have shown that due to the currents in the Straits, a spill would be catastrophic for the Great Lakes, decimating up to 700 miles of shoreline. And to meet this threat, Snyder appointed a former BP lobbyist who was heavily involved in the company’s response to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico — the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry.
Not only was she involved, but she was proud to shield the company from consequences. In hermLinkedIn bio, Grether boasts that she “Developed and implemented successful external relations strategies for the Gulf Coast in response to the DWH accident, thereby achieving no legislation adverse to BP being introduced in the Gulf states.”
A state study of Line 5, paid for by Enbridge, is underway, and the recommendations are expected in 2017. But before the results are made public, Enbridge will get at least five days to examine the results.
We can assume Grether has already been involved in the process, as the proposals for this study were assessed by an inter-agency team from Attorney General Bill Schuette’s office, the DEQ, the Department of Natural Resources, and the Michigan Agency for Energy, where Grether was deputy director immediately prior to her DEQ appointment.
It is impossible not to be suspicious that Grether will bow to pressure from Enbridge to water down the recommendations. It is equally impossible to believe that Grether would actually advocate against the interests of a powerful company in the industry to which her entire career belongs — and to which, if history is a guide, she will likely return after her stint in state government.
Finally, Snyder is telling Michiganders he just doesn’t care what they think....
Pay attention now, this may be the last honest assessment Michiganders will have of Line 5 and 6B. This is why good, 'ole Grether was hired. There is absolutely no other reason. To insure the right state and federal people get into the officers for power over the people. I don't what anyone says. This is why she was hired.
In Michigan, (click here) there are two major tar sands pipelines, both run by the company Enbridge. These pipelines are a part of a larger plan to pump tar sands to the east coast for export....
The thickest, cruddiest and highest polluting tar sands crud is going to travel thousands of miles and endangering every living thing along the way.
...Enbridge’s Line 6B is the pipeline that spilled in Kalamazoo in 2010 (click here) and has been recently expanded to double its capacity for tar sands oil transportation. This line runs through the southern part of Michigan and connects to lines in Canada and the east coast for oil export.
July 16, 2016
By Jen Eyer
...First, Snyder is telling us he’s unrepentant (click here) about his austerity-driven, pro-business and privatization agenda. Despite the tragic outcome of his emergency management in Flint, the abhorrent results of his privatization of veteran care and prison food, and the havoc that his business tax cuts have wreaked on our state budget, he will continue relentlessly pursuing the ideology that business interests top everything.
Second, Snyder is telling Michiganders that he sides with the interests of Enbridge over the protection of our most precious natural resource. Michigan faces an urgent environmental threat right now from the aging pair of oil pipelines known as Line 5 running beneath the Straits of Mackinac. Line 5 has exceeded its life expectancy, would not be approved today, and is operated by the company responsible for the greatest inland oil spill in U.S. history — also right here in Michigan.
Researchers have shown that due to the currents in the Straits, a spill would be catastrophic for the Great Lakes, decimating up to 700 miles of shoreline. And to meet this threat, Snyder appointed a former BP lobbyist who was heavily involved in the company’s response to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico — the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry.
Not only was she involved, but she was proud to shield the company from consequences. In hermLinkedIn bio, Grether boasts that she “Developed and implemented successful external relations strategies for the Gulf Coast in response to the DWH accident, thereby achieving no legislation adverse to BP being introduced in the Gulf states.”
A state study of Line 5, paid for by Enbridge, is underway, and the recommendations are expected in 2017. But before the results are made public, Enbridge will get at least five days to examine the results.
We can assume Grether has already been involved in the process, as the proposals for this study were assessed by an inter-agency team from Attorney General Bill Schuette’s office, the DEQ, the Department of Natural Resources, and the Michigan Agency for Energy, where Grether was deputy director immediately prior to her DEQ appointment.
It is impossible not to be suspicious that Grether will bow to pressure from Enbridge to water down the recommendations. It is equally impossible to believe that Grether would actually advocate against the interests of a powerful company in the industry to which her entire career belongs — and to which, if history is a guide, she will likely return after her stint in state government.
Finally, Snyder is telling Michiganders he just doesn’t care what they think....
Pay attention now, this may be the last honest assessment Michiganders will have of Line 5 and 6B. This is why good, 'ole Grether was hired. There is absolutely no other reason. To insure the right state and federal people get into the officers for power over the people. I don't what anyone says. This is why she was hired.
In Michigan, (click here) there are two major tar sands pipelines, both run by the company Enbridge. These pipelines are a part of a larger plan to pump tar sands to the east coast for export....
The thickest, cruddiest and highest polluting tar sands crud is going to travel thousands of miles and endangering every living thing along the way.
Line 5 runs through the northeast part of Michigan and under the Straits of Mackinac. Now over 60 years old, Enbridge is increasing the capacity of this pipeline to carry more tar sands oil without renovating or updating the line itself. This line is literally hanging in the Great Lakes, and estimates have shown a spill in this area would rival the size of the Exxon Valdez.
Enbridge’s Line 17 (and Line 79 expansion running alongside Line 17) jut off of Line 6B. These pipelines serve as conduits for the tar sands refineries in Toledo and Detroit. Two other pipelines have been leased by Enbridge from Wolverine Pipeline. These pipelines carry oil from Lines 17 and 79 directly to refineries in Toledo and Detroit....
