FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Trisha Harms
612-210-0819 or trisha@takeactionminnesota.org
June 10, 2021
MEDIA ADVISORY
TakeAction Minnesota, community groups, and elected officials to stage metro-area rally to halt Enbridge’s construction on Line 3 tar sands pipeline in Northern Minnesota
Community members will hold a public action calling on US Senator Amy Klobuchar to take immediate action to stop the desecration of life, land, water, and treaties being caused by the toxic pipeline.
Minneapolis, Minn – Today, community members are bringing the fight to stop construction of Enbridge’s Line 3 tar sands pipeline to the Metro with a march and peaceful action outside the office of Sen. Amy Klobuchar.Protestors will call on the Senator to take a stand on the toxic pipeline. President Biden and Governor Walz have authority to halt construction scheduled to start on July 1.
WHAT: More than 150 community members will rally, march, and stage a peaceful demonstration calling on Sen. Klobuchar to take a stand to stop the Line 3 pipeline.
WHEN: Thursday, June 10 (TODAY)
5:10 – 5:30 p.m. (program at Gold Medal Park), 5:30-6:15 p.m. (march to Sen. Klobuchar office), 6:15-6:40 p.m. (program at Sen. Klobuchar office)
WHERE: Gold Medal Park: Second Street and 11th Ave South, Minneapolis, MN 55415 and Sen. Klobuchar’s office: 1200 S Washington Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55415
WHO: Concerned community members, grassroots organizations TakeAction Minnesota, Honor The Earth, MN350 and COPAL, and elected officials. Speakers include:
- Winona LaDuke, Honor the Earth
- Maddie Ripperger, Climate Leader with TakeAction Minnesota
- Aisha Chughtai, TakeAction Minnesota endorsed City Council candidate for Ward 10
- Athena Hollins, Representative in District 66B
- Esther Agbaje, Climate Leader with TakeAction Minnesota and Representative in District 59B
- Marco Hernández, Public Policy Director at COPAL, Communities Organizing Latinx Power and Action
- Donna Goodlaxson, Climate Leader with TakeAction Minnesota
BACKGROUND: Over the weekend and on Monday, thousands gathered in Northern Minnesota for the Treaty People Gathering to block pipeline construction through peaceful action and call on President Biden and other elected officials to honor treaty rights and protect our water. Their nonviolent action was met with state violence and mass arrests. TakeAction Minnesota leaders joined more than 2,000 Water Protectors and allies gathered to halt pipeline construction.
Line 3 is a tar sands pipeline being built by Canadian oil corporation Enbridge. The pipeline would pump almost a million barrels of toxic tar sands from Alberta, Canada to Superior, Wisconsin each day. It would cut through the pristine wetlands of Northern Minnesota, drilling under 22 Minnesota rivers and more than 200 bodies of water, from the headwaters of the Mississippi River to the shores of Lake Superior. The pipeline threatens to violate indigenous treaty rights, poison our waterways, and emit more greenhouse gases than Minnesota’s entire economy, causing irreversible damage to our people and our planet.
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TakeAction Minnesota is a statewide, multi-racial people’s organization. We advance democracy and equity through organizing, political action, and policy campaigns.
www.takeactionminnesota.org
