Governor Walz provides the service for which Big Environmental paid good money.
Notwithstanding the fact that the Enbridge pipeline would replace hundreds / thousands of derailment-prone tanker cars and crash-able «trucks that currently transit populated areas and sensitive environments with a pipeline that will be gallon-for-gallon vastly safer for both people and the ecology; Walz knows who he’s working for.
Arguably the bigger crime? The twaddle he plopped out there to justify “his” decision.
I’ll add some emphasis:
Gov. Tim Walz will continue pursuing a court appeal started by his predecessor that could block Enbridge from building a controversial $2.6 billion oil pipeline across northern Minnesota.
Under former Gov. Mark Dayton, the Commerce Department appealed the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission’s (PUC’s) decision to allow Enbridge to build the pipeline, a replacement for its aging and corroding Line 3. Last month, the Walz administration said it would review the appeal.
“By continuing that process, our administration will raise the Department of Commerce’s concerns to the court in hopes of gaining further clarity for all involved,” Walz said in a statement. “As I often say, projects like these don’t only need a building permit to go forward, they also need a social permit. Our administration has met with groups on all sides of this issue, and Minnesotans deserve clarity.”
“Social permit”.
That is two steps from fluent Duckspeak.
Following it up with a platitude like “Minnesotans deserve clarity” adds rhetorical insult to Orwellian injury.
Governor Walz; your leash is showing.
Perhaps Governor Walz supports the New Green Deal?
We won’t let you build a pipeline to pump crude oil from the oilfields to the refineries. The refineries won’t have crude oil to refine into gasoline. The refineries won’t have gasoline to sell to local gas stations. You won’t be able to buy gasoline to drive your Earth-killing SUV. But it’s not a problem because you can walk, ride a bicycle, or ride the electric train.
All part of the plan?
It’s worth noting as well that the new pipeline route, while somewhat longer, also circumvents the Mississippi headwaters in Itasca, as well as Leech Lake and Cass Lake, and reduces the # of reservations crossed by two. So the excuses given for not allowing the new pipeline are just fatuous.
Kinda like Walz’s transition from gun rights advocate to gun control advocate, his positions were either always liberal (my guess), or they can be bought for a price.
projects like these… social permit
What do these even mean? What are “projects like these “? And what conditions and requirements are involved in a “social permit”? Is there an office of Social Permits?
JDM – the fact that you asked means you don’t qualify.
The concept isn’t hard to understand. Good People get privileges, Bad People do not. China now rates citizens on their “social credit.” New York is considering a “social media” check before you can purchase a firearm.
Government-run health care always includes Death Panels so bureaucrats can allocate medical treatment based on the recipient’s usefulness to society.
Why should pipeline projects be any different?
I thought the PUC was a “social” permit. It’s made up of folks from the public, right?
Sniff…, sniff.., sniff… I smell Warren Buffet’s money.
Berkshire Hathaway’s largest investment is in the BNSF railroad (Burlington-Northern for all you old folks). Originally, he bought it to haul coal out of Wyoming and Montana but then that kinda faded – but along came oil and Uncle Warren has been pumping money into his green-washing pipeline to stop anything that don’t move by rail.
Uh…. for all you history buffs, think John D Rockefeller’s war with the railroads and pipelines. Talk about a through-back to ancient history.
The Buffet conspiracy angle is not terribly persuasive. I have a hard time believing BNSF’s P+L is so critical to Buffet’s fortunes that its something he would micro manage by working against pipelines. He’s not a micro manager. I have a hard time believing he’d fund activism of almost any sort, he’s a cheap bastard (as well as an aspie).
John,
The BNSF is a wholly owned subsidiary of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire-Hathaway. The railroad constitutes approx. 25% of the holding company’s income.
Given that coal and oil are the BNSF’s biggest business, I would definitely say that Warren takes a personal interest in their long term viability.