The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission voted in favor of increasing tar sands oil transportation across the northern portion of Minnesota on July 17, but there may be trouble ahead for Enbridge and their expansion plans. The main problem is that Enbridge, the largest Canadian oil transport corporation, requested an increase of 27 percent, 120,000 barrels per day (bpd), boosting their total from 450,000 to 570,000 bpd in a pipeline operating since 2010. The majority of this oil is for export. While it seems that Enbridge is focused upon building their pipeline without resistance, Minnesotans are standing up for the environment and have are gaining the attention of state representatives.

OccupyMN and other allied organizations may have just stopped the largest tar sands pipeline in North America from becoming larger than the proposed (not built yet) Keystone XL pipeline. A recent comment sent to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission from the Minnesota House of Representatives points out that the “Certificate of Need” requested by Enbridge does not meet the criteria for approval despite the PUC’s favorable vote:

March 2013 - 30,000+ gallons of Tar Sands oil spilled out near Parkers Prairie, MN after a train derailed.

Rep. Frank Hornstein was one of a few representatives that had met with the North Star Energy Coalition at the Capitol some months ago regarding the Alberta Clipper pipeline increase. He just filed a comment with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission regarding Enbridge Energy’s “Certificate of Need” for an upgrade to line 67, known as the Alberta Clipper pipeline. While the outcome of this comment has yet to work itself out in the state, Minnesotans will most certainly be monitoring how the Public Utilities Commission and Enbridge deal with the information.

Meanwhile Enbridge already has paperwork in process for another increase—from 570,000 bpd to 880,000 bpd. In total it would be a 97.8 percent increase in the existing pipe requiring stronger pumping pressure and more pumping stations risking more oil spills.

This Enbridge pipeline would carry a greater volume than the Keystone XL, designed to move 830,000 bpd. The pipeline crosses the headwaters of the Mississippi five times and also intercepts the mother waters flowing north to Hudson Bay and east out the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway.

As long as we keep pumping fossil oil we threaten the climate and political stability of the world.

TAKE ACTION NOW:

With this new information coming into the public perspective the time is now to stand against the Enbridge/Keystone XL Pipeline! Contact your state representatives and your state senators and let them know that you stand for both the environment and the health of the people in Minnesota.

Don’t stop there -the pipeline expansion is not just a local issue, it’s an international issue!

Sign the petition to deny the permits Enbridge seeks and contact the White House and the Obama Administration.

The international Enbridge tar sands pipeline increase is not a regulatory issue; it is a political decision. Urge President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry to reject Enbridge’s Minnesota tar sands oil pipeline increase.