People protest against the Enbridge Energy Line 3 oil pipeline project outside the Governor's Residence, St. Paul, Minnesota, on November 14, 2020.. Since taking office in 2019, Walz signed into law a bill requiring utilities to provide 100 percent carbon-free energy by 2040 and aligned the state’s climate change policies closely with those of another environmentally progressive state, California.
Laura Bishop, a former commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency who worked under Gov. Walz during his first term, toldthat she also believes Walz has a “strong” environmental record and has been a “climate champion.” She singled out the money he allocated for infrastructure, advancing electric vehicles and improving agricultural practices. Bishop explained Walz’s support for Line 3 by pointing out that it had been in planning before the Democrat even took office.
“Enbridge leaders know there’s no way for them to win the hearts and minds of all the Native people but they don’t have to,” Anton Treuer, professor of Ojibwe language at Bemidji State University in Minnesota, told. “If they can win over just enough to clear enough hurdles to get the next easement or next little contract or permit approved, they know they’ll be able to get their work done.
“Fond du Lac employed tribal cultural experts who walked the full route identifying and recording significant cultural resources to be avoided,” Sutherland said. “As a result of this survey, 60 tribally significant cultural locations were identified and recommended for further avoidance, mitigation treatments or Tribal monitoring, all of which were adopted into project plans.