Judge upholds law allowing Great Lakes oil pipeline tunnel

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

John Flesher, Ap Environmental Writer
Updated 7:16 pm CDT, Thursday, October 31, 2019

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Michigan legislators did not violate the state constitution with their decision to allow construction of an oil pipeline tunnel beneath a waterway linking two of the Great Lakes, a judge said Thursday.

The ruling by Judge Michael Kelly of the Michigan Court of Claims was a victory for Enbridge Inc., which struck a deal with former Republican Gov. Rick Snyder to build the tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac.

Lawmakers approved the agreement during a lame-duck session last December over objections that the authorizing measure was drafted sloppily and rushed to enactment before Snyder's term expired.

He was succeeded in January by Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, a critic of the deal.

Attorney General Dana Nessel, also a newly elected Democrat, issued an opinion in March that the bill was unconstitutional because its provisions far exceeded what its title specified. Whitmer then ordered state agencies not to carry out the agreement.



Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Judge-upholds-law-allowing-Great-Lakes-oil-14673394.php

[roamer65]

1. Appeal it, AG Nessel and Gov Whitmer.

[Yeehah]

2. What could go wrong!!!???

Humans are determined to kill themselves and the biosphere.

[bucolic_frolic]

3. oil pipeline under a lake

dumbest thing this year

[oldsoftie]

4. Well, a tunnel holding the pipeline is much better than the pipeline on the lake floor.

A tunnel could be serviced much easier

[eggplant]

5. Luckily, the Great Lakes aren't important to anyone.

So if they are forever polluted, no big deal. Right?

[llmart]

6. This disgusts me to no end.

The Great Lakes are a treasure, but we won't be happy in this country until we've polluted everything.

[roamer65]

7. More than a treasure.

They may end up being the last source of fresh water on the planet.

[ancianita]

8. Shit a fossil fuel dictatorship does. Putin's playbook.

[Buckeyeblue]

9. Rick Snyder was in over his head as governor

The Flint crisis was criminally mismanaged. Our state tax code robbed from the schools to give businesses a tax break. This tax break was to open the floodgates for new businesses to move into the state. We are still waiting for that.

Michigan's big problem is location. It's not easy to get to. And winters are brutal. And while there is still a lot of shipping on the great lakes, it's nothing like it used to be.

[llmart]

10. Yes, he was.

Another example of the "elect a businessman because they will run the place like a business". When are we going to understand in this country that not everything should be run like a business. Also, so-called "successful businessmen" are usually only concerned about the bottom line/stockholders and that doesn't transfer well when the "stockholders" are everyday citizens.

Unfettered capitalism is going to be the ruin of us yet.

[lagomorph777]

11. I'm sure this will go perfectly, just like Keystone, right?

[bluestarone]

12. Oil companies have an OPEN SEASON in almost EVERY state

To do whatever they want! NOBODY to stop them!