Letter to the editor: Public interest must override corporation on Enbridge reroute

In six years following the legal battles over the Line 5 reroute, I’ve observed that the current systems of regulation and departmental checks seem to serve only as a series of hurdles for Enbridge to eventually clear.

During these same years, I’ve also seen massive public opposition to the project for its threat to tribal sovereignty, clean water and the climate and heard Bad River Band leaders explain that their land and its manoomin (wild rice) is inseparable from who they are and so must be protected. But these big-picture views have not yet found a place in the world of permits and injunctions. Yet isn’t it the responsibility of democratically elected officials to ensure that the policies, regulations and laws that decision-makers follow effectively represent public interest over corporate?

In a recent gubernatorial forum, candidates, asked about Line 5, said that tribal sovereignty and the protection of the local environment and the Great Lakes were paramount. Several expressed misgivings that the interests of the Wisconsin public appear to be losing out to those of a Canadian corporation.

My hope is that their words do not remain abstract slogans but are put into practice through concrete and specific policy changes.

Julie Gutmanis, Oregon

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