LETTER: Governor is failing to lead in fight to save state from Line 5

To Ozaukee Press:

     The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ decision to approve permits for the Line 5 pipeline expansion is a reckless betrayal of our environment and Indigenous rights. Adding 41 miles of new pipeline to a crumbling 70-year-old system is pure folly.

     This pipeline’s proposed route threatens the Bad River Band reservation, the Kakagon Slough (home to wild rice beds), Lake Superior and the Bad River watershed.

Even the “workaround” would hook up to the existing 70-year-old pipeline east of the reservation and continue to Canada, running dangerously beneath the Stairs of Mackinac. Construction plans involving trenching, blasting and drilling across 186 waterways and wetlands will leave lasting scars on our state’s natural heritage.

     Beyond environmental devastation, this project violates the treaty rights of the Bad River Band. Where is our governor in all of this? His silence is deafening in the face of a project that endangers Indigenous sovereignty, Wisconsin’s ecosystems, and one of the world’s largest freshwater resources.

     At a time when we must move toward sustainable energy, approving outdated and dangerous fossil fuel infrastructure is unacceptable. Wisconsin deserves bold leadership that protects our future—not quiet acquiescence to corporate interests.

Tom Hildebrandt

West Bend