An anti-pipeline activist called Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 pipeline replacement project the “ecological equivalent to Auschwitz” during an interview Friday night on TPT Almanac.
Both the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency approved permits for the project last week. After years of legal battles, Enbridge needs just two more permits before it can begin construction on the replacement pipeline.
TPT Almanac invited Honor the Earth Executive Director Winona LaDuke on the show to discuss the latest developments.
“You can be sure that this pipeline project will be met with resistance,” said LaDuke. “In a time of climate disaster, nobody thinks this is a good idea, except for apparently Gov. Walz and Enbridge. You know, I really think that the governor of Michigan has a much better idea. Don’t let risky Canadian corporations, you know, put a gun to your head and say, ‘we need a new pipeline.’”
Co-host Cathy Wurzer noted that some Native American groups support the pipeline project because of the jobs it will bring to the region.
“So, you know, there’s some people that are up there trying to get some money because it’s a really difficult time in the north. But you know what? It’s kind of like getting a job in the gas chamber,” LaDuke replied.
“That’s a great job to have, but it’s really not the job you want to have for the long term and that’s what this pipeline is like. It’s like the ecological equivalent to Auschwitz. That’s what this pipeline is. So I don’t want to work in the gas chamber and I don’t want an Auschwitz,” she continued.
Neither moderator challenged LaDuke’s claim before the end of the interview.
According to a Daily Caller report, Honor the Earth was sued in 2019 by a former employee, Margaret Campbell, for allegedly failing to take action against an employee who was “credibly accused of using his status as a spiritual leader to commit sexual violence against Native boys.”
“Instead of acting promptly to protect the community from this predator, Honor the Earth tried to silence Campbell to protect the organization’s reputation,” said the lawsuit.
Campbell claimed that former co-worker Michael Dahl sexually harassed her in 2014 and 2015, but LaDuke and Honor the Earth board members ignored her requests for help, the lawsuit said.
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Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
