Shut Down Line 5 - Michigan Interfaith Power & Light

Shut Down Line 5

The Line 5 Pipeline poses an unreasonable risk to our Great Lakes and should be decommissioned. For lots more information, check out Oil & Water Don't Mix.

Faith leaders hand delivered this letter to the Governor's Office on April 23, 2018. 

PRIVACY NOTE: We ask for your address only so that we can identify you as a Michigan resident. We won't send you unsolicited mail.

Dear Gov. Snyder and Attorney General Schuette,

As people of many faiths, we are called by the Creator to guide and lead others to love and care for each other and all of creation. Therefore, we ask that you respond carefully and quickly to an issue which is of grave importance to the entire Great Lakes ecosystem and our communities within the Basin.

Members of our faith communities have indicated growing concern over the lack of adequate upkeep and question the necessity of continuing operation of the Enbridge Pipeline 5. This 65-year-old pipeline, which runs over and through the entire State of Michigan, is showing signs of decomposition and has a history of 29 documented leaks totaling over 1 million gallons. The line’s rising potential for rupture jeopardizes the future water quality, ecosystem health, commercial fisheries, tourism, and livelihood of those across and beyond Michigan.

We call upon you, our elected leaders, to uphold the principle of the Public Trust Doctrine, wherein the people of Michigan have the inalienable right to the preservation, use and protection of the waters of the Great Lakes. This doctrine affirms that no private, public or commercial use shall harm the waters of the Great Lakes by materially reducing the flow, changing levels, or polluting the waters of the Great Lakes Basin. This principle aligns with our call as people of faith and citizens of the world to assure the right stewardship of our waters. Simply put, it is our belief that the Great Lakes are not an appropriate place to transport crude oil and it is our right as citizens to demand that this practice cease.

We share with scores of Michiganders their concerns about a growing threat of a spill, vague safety tests, and piecemeal repair each time pipe degradation is observed. These are not solutions to the problem, but a band-aid at best. For all the risk that Line 5 poses to Michigan and the Great Lakes Region, the benefits are few. The public has been crying out for this Line to be closed for almost a decade and easements across tribal lands expired in 2013.

As representatives of thousands of voices across Michigan we demand that you:

  • Initiate decommissioning of the pipeline NOW and decline the building of any more underwater lines in the Great Lakes Basin.
  • Stop using the “loss of propane” as a scare tactic and make arrangements for land-based transportation for the small amount of propane that is needed in the Upper Peninsula currently coming from the pipeline. Trains and tankers are proven alternatives and viable options.
  • Demonstrate proper governmental oversight to protect the people and state resources!
  • Show compassion for others and the planet. Consider the legacy you intend to leave for all our children and grandchildren and the earth.

We will continue to pray over this issue and voice our concern everywhere we can. We will pray that you, our elected and appointed representatives, will experience a change in heart and mind, and that you stand with the majority of people who lovingly show compassion for this planet – our island home – we only have one.

703 endorsements
Goal: 500 endorsements

Will you endorse?

  • Robin Doher
    endorsed 2018-04-19 15:07:05 -0400
  • Laurie Anne Tikkanen
    endorsed 2018-04-19 15:03:44 -0400
  • Cynthia Corner
    endorsed 2018-04-19 15:03:44 -0400
  • Laurel Dahill
    endorsed 2018-04-19 15:03:10 -0400
  • Gwen Paradowski
    endorsed 2018-04-19 14:59:33 -0400
  • Ken Bowery
    posted about this on Facebook 2018-04-19 14:58:46 -0400
    Sign this to shit down line 5, an oil line going through the Great Lakes. No corporate profit is worth risking the well-being of our precious fresh water.
  • Annette St-Amour
    endorsed via 2018-04-19 14:56:06 -0400
  • Kenneth Bowery
    endorsed 2018-04-19 14:55:40 -0400
    No corporate profit is worth risking the well-being of our precious fresh water.
  • Rhonda Cardwell
    endorsed 2018-04-19 14:54:41 -0400
    The Great Lakes are a valuable natural resource and should be protected against any possible contamination. Our lives depend on these lakes remaining unpolluted. Please take action BEFORE a major spill occurs.
  • Carol Kelly
    endorsed via 2018-04-19 14:52:01 -0400
  • Diane Gordon
    endorsed 2018-04-19 14:48:47 -0400
    Save God’s good creation from destruction!
  • Douglas Meggison
    endorsed 2018-04-19 14:44:08 -0400
  • Jonathan Sams
    endorsed 2018-04-19 14:42:44 -0400
  • Mary Matthews
    endorsed 2018-04-19 14:39:56 -0400
  • Elizabeth Thompson
    endorsed 2018-04-19 14:36:49 -0400
    I pray daily for action.
  • Rosemary Spatafora
    endorsed 2018-04-19 14:36:07 -0400
  • Mark Kadrofske
    endorsed 2018-04-19 14:35:47 -0400
  • Ronald Sowers
    endorsed via 2018-04-19 14:34:15 -0400
  • Cheryl Wahlquist
    endorsed 2018-04-19 14:34:03 -0400
  • Cybelle Shattuck
    endorsed 2018-04-19 14:33:57 -0400
    The recent damage to the electrical lines in the straits demonstrates how quickly fluids can leak and how often weather conditions make clean-up problematic. The potential damage from any leak in Line 5 is too great for us to accept the risk—especially when there are alternatives. Please be courageous and, rather than waiting to react to a disaster, be proactive about protecting out great lakes.
  • Ruth Clausen
    endorsed 2018-04-19 14:32:52 -0400
  • Annemarie McDonald
    endorsed via 2018-04-19 14:28:12 -0400
    I think its ridiculous that this matter requires a petition to get the attention that it needs! What a shame it has been neglected so long that our fresh waters are now at risk
  • Ross N Susan Vandercook
    posted about this on Facebook 2018-04-19 14:27:39 -0400
    Line 5 is a disaster waiting to happen! Join me in signing an interfaith letter demanding that we shut it down.
  • William Spaid
    endorsed 2018-04-19 14:27:13 -0400
  • Susan Vandercook
    endorsed 2018-04-19 14:26:14 -0400
  • Kurt Uhlenbrauck - DO NOT CONTACT
    endorsed 2018-04-19 14:24:10 -0400
  • Victor Rauch
    endorsed 2018-04-19 14:22:30 -0400
  • Mark Davis-Craig
    endorsed 2018-04-19 14:18:15 -0400
  • William McDonald
    endorsed 2018-04-19 14:16:07 -0400
  • Den Mark Wichar
    endorsed 2018-04-19 14:15:38 -0400
    The Great Lakes belong to the people of Michigan, the people of the nation, & the people of the planet, NOT to corporate interests.