Akilah Sanders-Reed: Resisting the Line 3 Pipeline

When my last class of the week ended on Friday afternoon, I made my way straight to Dunn Bros for my meeting with environmental activist Akilah Sanders-Reed. Pulling up my email as I walked I saw that I had received a recent message from her containing detailed instructions on where to find her in Dunn Bros. She would be wearing a white shirt, with black designs, sitting at a table against the far wall on the right side with a cup of tea and an Apple computer. There was no way I could miss her. As I sat down across from her, I was very excited to be talking to a former Macalester student who now does environmental work, something I aspire to become one day. Right at the beginning of our conversation, Akilah told me she wanted to be helpful, and advised me to stop her if what she was saying would not be useful for my essay. From this interaction alone I could see that she is the type of person who is always thinking of others and how she can help them. As we began to delve into her work, this impression was only further cemented.

Akilah got an early start in the environmental movement. Her story begins in New Mexico, where, as a high school student, Akilah began organizing events for environmental organizations like 350.org. When she began applying for college, she knew she wanted to continue this type of work and looked for somewhere “at the forefront of climate justice”. Her search led her to the Twin Cities, which seemed like the kind of urban area where she could learn from other organizers. Minnesota is not too conservative and not too liberal, somewhere, she felt, that could be in the middle of the conversation about what building a future for everybody looks like. This is how she ended up at Macalester College, after only spending one half day on campus, that day being her first and only visit to the Midwest. Despite the harsh winters, the decision gave her the opportunities she desired. In college, she continued to be active in the environmental movement, including volunteering with MN350, an organization which fights climate change in Minnesota. After graduating in 2016 with a degree in environmental studies, Akilah found her way to the Powershift Network. This organization provides connections and support to over 80 environmental organizations, from large nonprofits to small student groups, and helps them navigate the environmental movement. Akilah’s role in the Powershift Network is supporting young people involved in pipeline resistance.

As Akilah began her career in fighting pipelines, Enbridge, an energy transportation company, decided to replace and expand one of their old pipelines right here in Minnesota. The current pipeline, Line 3, was built in 1961, and cannot be used at full capacity because of several structural issues. Rather than replacing or fixing the pipeline, Enbridge is planning to build a new, bigger pipeline with a new route through Minnesota. The new Line 3 would transport 760,000 barrels per day of tar sands oil, the dirtiest fuel on the planet. Although Enbridge claims the pipeline would be safe, the company has had over 800 spills in the last 15 years, according to Honor the Earth. Not only would the construction release the equivalent of fifty coal-fired power plants worth of greenhouse gases, but the new route would also go through sacred Indigenous lands, endangering hunting, fishing, and wild rice. Not only would the construction release the equivalent of fifty coal-fired power plants worth of greenhouse gases, but the new route would also go through sacred Indigenous lands, endangering hunting, fishing, and wild rice. Minority groups, including Indigenous people, have long been the targets of the fossil fuel industry. Mines, pipelines, and refineries are all disproportionately located in low income, minority communities, because they have less social, political, and economic power with which they can fight back. The plans for Line 3 have angered both environmental and Indigenous activists, eliciting protests and lawsuits. Even several government organizations, such as the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Department of Commerce, are against the pipeline.

Akilah sees fighting Line 3 as one important intervention point in the fight against climate change. While companies like Enbridge claim that oil will be extracted regardless of whether or not the pipeline gets built, in reality pipeline capacity is the biggest limiting factor in growth for the tar sands industry in Canada, where the oil is extracted. Other forms of transportation simply are not profitable. When Enbridge said they had to delay the construction of Line 3 by a year, a mining operation in Canada was cancelled because there was not enough pipeline capacity to move the oil. According to Akilah, “Every day that that pipeline isn’t built is a day that we are not spewing extra greenhouse gases into the atmosphere”. For Akilah, fighting pipelines is a tangible way to get involved, and Line 3 in particular is important to her because it is close to home. Akilah also points out the great work other activists are doing to challenge the fossil fuel industry, including groups fighting oil refineries, groups fighting extraction sites, and groups on the ground in Northern Minnesota who are working to put an end to the construction preparation Enbridge is already starting on Line 3.

Because of the efforts of so many activists, Line 3 has become one of the most well-known and controversial issues in Minnesota. In Akilah’s opinion, the greatest accomplishment of the movement is the scale that it has grown to because “ultimately it’s people power that wins”. To illustrate her point, Akilah explained to me how Minnesota’s current Governor Walz had yet to take a stand on Line 3 when he first arrived in office. However, groups of faith leaders, young people, and climate activists showing up in his office, and politicians like Ilhan Omar and Bernie Sanders tweeting at him drove Governor Walz to commit to fighting Line 3. Because the movement is backed by the power of so many people, activists are more able to fight the power of the fossil fuel industry and gain support.

When Akilah started getting involved in pipeline resistance, she wanted to uplift the voices of young people, who don’t really get a say in these kinds of decisions despite the fact that their future will be most impacted by climate change. She explained that young voices are largely kept out of the process and ignored, “I think a lot of times and in a lot of spaces, the role of young people and the voices of young people are seen as something powerful, but not something that has a place”. “I think a lot of times and in a lot of spaces, the role of young people and the voices of young people are seen as something powerful, but not something that has a place.” Akilah, along with twelve other young people, found a place for their voices through the Youth Climate Interveners. Because these thirteen young people were able to show a judge that they would be personally impacted by the pipeline, the judge granted them the right to legally intervene in the fight against Line 3. This legal standing gives the Youth Climate Interveners the same rights as Enbridge, including the right to share their opinions, bring in expert witnesses, and ask questions. By bringing in expert witnesses, these young people not only uplifted their voices, but also the voices of climate experts and Indigenous elders who would otherwise be kept out of this system. The Youth Climate Interveners is the first group of young people to formally intervene in the case of a pipeline, but they learned from a legacy of other groups. Our Children’s Trust, a group of 21 young people suing the federal government over inaction on climate change, as well as land owners in South Dakota, who took action against the Keystone XL pipeline which was going through their land, provided an example of creative legal tactics that the Youth Climate Interveners could learn from and apply to their own unique situation.

Despite the objections of the Youth Climate Interveners and others, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved the project. Akilah sees this approval as a symptom of a larger, broken system of government. She points out that 94% of public comments were against the pipeline and other government agencies didn’t think it was a good idea, yet the PUC still approved. Perhaps the $11.1 million Enbridge spent on lobbying in 2018 influenced the decision (Lovrien 2019). The fight, however, is not over. The Youth Climate Interveners are teaming up with law students from the University of Minnesota, another group of young people, to appeal the decision. Akilah is very optimistic about the appeal. When I asked her how she maintained her optimism despite the PUC’s dismissal of the objections of so many activists and experts, she said that the community that has been fighting and continues to fight the pipeline gives her hope. Pipelines have been stopped before, and with such a large movement around this one, “it’s a powerful force to be reckoned with”.

While Line 3 would disproportionately affect the health of Indigenous people and their land, Akilah considers herself a white ally in this fight. She says that although the pipeline itself (aside from greenhouse gas emissions) would mostly affect Indigenous people, it should not be up to these communities alone to stop it. Two sets of names signed treaties many years ago: the names of today’s Indigenous ancestors, and the names of the white settlers, who have many descendants in today’s society. When something, like Enbridge, threatens the rights of Indigenous people, both groups must work to uphold those treaties and protect the land and resources that the treaties safeguard. As for being a white ally in the movement, Akilah says that “it is a constant learning process”. There is no way to get everything right, and mistakes will be made. In order to be a good ally, one must be willing to accept criticism and learn from it, which is something that Akilah strives to do everyday.

As our conversation came to an end, I found myself amazed at the remarkable feats Akilah and the Youth Climate Interveners had accomplished so far in their efforts against Line 3. Looking at the time on my phone, I realized I had kept her longer than I was meant to, but Akilah was happy to take the time out of her day to help me with my project. With this in mind, I decided to ask the last question to which I really wanted to hear the answer. After feeling so inspired by her work, I wanted to know what her advice was for those like myself who wanted to get involved. Her initial response, “just go for it”, was followed with “I think we often shoot ourselves in the foot thinking that we need to learn more or know the whole legal process or have more experience or be absolutely perfect in the ways that we show up before showing up. And I think that’s a trap. That’s a trap that we fall into that disempowers us”. Her call to action inspires me to put myself out there and begin seeking change. As I packed my things to leave, Akilah encouraged me to email her with any follow up questions I may have, demonstrating again her drive to support others.

References

Lovrien J. Enbridge spent $11 million on line 3 lobbying in 2018. Duluth News-Tribune (Duluth, MN) Website. https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/business/energy-and-mining/4587105-enbridge-spent-11-million-line-3-lobbying-2018. Mar 19, 2019.

Enbridge line 3 fact sheet. Honor the Earth Website. http://www.honorearth.org/line_3_factsheet. Accessed May 8, 2019.