Whitmer: Finish the Job

The Michigan Supreme Court just vacated the permit for Enbridge's Line 5 oil tunnel, 6 to 1.

The Court found the tunnel has no state siting approval required under federal law and that regulators can no longer ignore the public trust doctrine when a project like this puts the Great Lakes at risk.

Tribal Nations and Michigan citizens have been saying this for years. Now the state's highest court has said it too.

But Line 5 itself is still running. The same 73-year-old pipeline that's been sitting exposed on the lakebed of the Straits of Mackinac since 1953. It’s still pumping oil today, permit fight or no permit fight.

It's time for Gov. Whitmer to listen to the Court, to Tribal Nations who won this case, and to the tens of thousands of Michiganders who have opposed this project for over a decade.

Why this matters right now:

• The tunnel was Enbridge's plan to keep Line 5 running for decades more. With this approval vacated, the door is open to instead demand the pipeline's shutdown.
• Whitmer's administration approved this project once already. Public pressure–not just the courtroom–is what moves the next decision.
• The old dual pipelines remain exposed in the Straits right now, not on some future construction timeline. Every day of delay is a day of continued risk.