Dear Editor,

With a lot going on in the world, I wanted to write of the importance of not letting politicians close the Line 5 Pipeline.
Governor Whitmer ordered Enbridge to close the 68-year-old line, revoking a 1953 state easement.  At least our neighbors in Canada are helping when they invoked a 1977 treaty with the U.S. to keep it running.
Whitmer does not have Michigan citizens’ backs. If the pipeline is shut down, energy costs will skyrocket. A recent analysis conducted by Consumer Energy Alliance showed that closing Line 5 Pipeline could cost Midwest residents billions, severe job losses and fuel shortages. The fact that Governor Whitmer has ordered this shutdown shows her disregard for American citizens and her failure to ascertain the reality of the situation.
Shutting down the affordable energy Michiganders rely on would be a disaster. Line 5 continues to safely operate, as it has for more than 65 years, despite the governor’s efforts to shut it down. It is responsible for 55 percent of the state’s propane and 65 percent of the Upper Peninsula’s propane usage. Without Line 5, Michiganders would be left scrambling trying to secure energy to heat their homes and businesses. Thousands of paychecks and jobs depend on Line 5.
It would take 2,100 tanker trucks a day to transport the fuel Line 5 provides on Michigan’s already crumbling roads. The Great Lakes Tunnel will protect the Great Lakes by burying a portion of Line 5 deep below the lakebed.
On March 3, 2022, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki responded to rising oil prices, explaining, “we are continuing to look at other options we could take right now to cut U.S. consumption of Russian energy. I mean, for us, if you look at publicly available data, it’s only about 10 percent of our imports. But again, reducing the supply out there would have an impact on prices and on prices at the gas pump.”
How about Line 5! Now there’s a reasonable option.
God Bless America, my home sweet home.  Let’s stop buying foreign oil and keep Line 5 open.

Sincerely,
Ann Marie McMichael
Clarkston