Essay by Eric Worrall
As Michigan heads into winter, Governor Gretchen Whitmer has been accused of endangering Michigan residents with a shutdown of a major propane supply pipeline.
Exclusive — Tudor Dixon: Gretchen Whitmer Willing to Freeze People to Death ‘Because of Her Environmental Religion’
ROBERT KRAYCHIK 14 Oct 2022
Tudor Dixon, Republican candidate for governor of Michigan, said on Friday’s edition of SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Daily with guest host Jerome Hudson that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) is endangering the lives of Michiganders by threatening their ability to warm their homes in the winter.
Whitmer, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D), and the Biden administration are pushing to shut down a significant portion of Line 5, an oil pipeline built in 1953 transporting propane and other fossil fuels between Canada and the United States. The Democrats market their push as an “environmental” measure.
Dixon remarked, “Let me tell you what this would do to the state of Michigan and overall to the Midwest. It moves propane. Michigan is the highest user of propane in the entire country. It’s what people in the upper peninsula of Michigan heat their homes with, many people in the lower peninsula, as well.”
Dixon said Whitmer is putting Michiganders’ lives at risk in the winter by undermining their access to home heating in order to comply with left-wing orthodoxy.
…
Read more: https://www.breitbart.com/radio/2022/10/14/exclusive-tudor-dixon-gretchen-whitmer-willing-freeze-people-death-because-her-environmental-religion/
Tudor Dixon, Whitmer’s Republican Challenger, is behind in the polls.
The pipeline in question, Line 5 oil and gas pipeline crossing the Straits of Mackinac, was damaged in 2018 by a tugboat. In 2020 Governor Whitmer ordered a shutdown of pipeline 5, but Enbridge, the company which operates the pipeline, apparently challenged the shutdown order and continued to operate.
Enbridge was fined in 2020 by the EPA for failing to maintain the pipeline – but the EPA has frequently been accused of playing politics.
Perhaps readers in Michigan can shed some light on what is really happening.
Obviously it is less than ideal for the pipeline to continue to operate if there is a serious risk of rupture.
But if the pipeline is being operated in a dangerous fashion, politicians like Governor Whitmer also need to answer for helping to create the hostile political environment which is incentivising fossil fuel companies to run their infrastructure into the ground. Nobody spends money on the upkeep of a house which is scheduled for demolition.
Caught in the middle of this are Michigan residents, who may be about to lose an important winter heating lifeline. Michigan environmental groups claim there are plenty of alternative sources of supply, but that pipeline is profitable enough that Enbridge wants to keep it operating, so there is certainly a demand for the product it provides.
What can I say – if I lived in a place like Michigan, and that pipeline is a key component of propane supply affordability and reliability, I would be keen for that pipeline to continue operating. Freezing to death in winter would be worse than living with the risk of a pipeline rupture.
Update (EW): h/t Old Mike – In 2021 Canada invoked the dispute resolution provision of the 1977 US Canada transit pipeline treaty, with a demand Pipe 5 supply be maintained, and a replacement pipeline permitted.
“Safety” hell!, It is global warming ideology, all the way down.
There is a trend to set conditions for suffering.
Line 5 also supplies eastern canada. The Trudeau government has invoked an old treaty to tie the shutdown up. Something the Trudeau government did not do for the XL pipeline which would have benefitted western canada.
For those in the us, instead of a north south divide canada has an east west divide. The east controls the government and somehow manage to exclusively implement policies to benefit the east at the expense of the west.
Recently some western canadians had their bank accounts seized without due process for staging a sit-in in canada’s capital to protest covid mandates and lock-downs. Our version of jan 6.
I was rooting for Quebec to secede in 1995 when I was still in Michigan. We hoped it meant Western and Maritime provences would see their best option as joining the US and helping us avert the liberal disaster we are currently suffering. Alas.
The divide is no longer North/South in the US. It is Left Coast/New England-MidAtlantic versus the rest.
Both Left Coasts.
I’m a michigander, but it’s confusing. So she’s been trying to shut down Line 5. Has been, for a couple of years now, but Enbridge said f you, and they have it in the courts or something. She got pretty comfortable dictating in 2020.
In the meantime, there’s permits and such to get a tunnel under the straights to replace line 5, but she won’t let that happen either.
I can understand wanting to replace it. But we wish she’d use her brain and expedite a replacement, and THEN shut it down.
Like our wonderful national leaders, more pandering to the environmental idiots.
Thanks Brandon. I think Whitmer’s apparent opposition to replacing the pipeline adds to the argument it is a politically motivated shutdown.
So who will have the courage to ensure that that Governor is charged with some very serious offence which is likely to cause loss of life?
I believe, government agents and decision makers can be charged with manslaughter, if it can be shown they were told their actions would lead to loss of life.
This winter in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere that prospect is real.
Criminal malfeasance in office. Conspiracy to commit mass murder (excess Winter fuel poverty deaths). Possibly abuse under color of authority. Possibly RICO if she benefits in any way from subsidies given unreliable energy.
I don’t live in Michigan but grew up there and still have family and friends in The Mitten. Brandon Galt is correct, Enbridge seeks to replace the 69 year old Line 5, which is on the lakebed, with a tunnel well below the lakebed to enclose the pipeline and provide a conduit for other utilities between the peninsulas. The tug incident mentioned did not result in a spill.
Clearly a pipeline would be better than the many trucks and/or railcars that would be needed to move the products the pipeline currently carries. The blind adherence to a destructive ideology by Gov. Whitmer and others needs to be repudiated by Michiganders.
The tunnel is a pretty expensive idea if it’s just for the pipeline. It’s always less costly to just put in a new pipe that is two or three times as thick so that tugboat anchors can’t dent it. Modern coatings, cathodic protection, monitoring and smart pigs result in very reliable pipelines.
Many pipelines in the North Sea are buried in a trench on the seabed so that boats, anchors and fishing gear can’t damage them. Can’t that be done in this instance?
Just wondering how many readers (yt not included) are scratching their heads and wondering what a “smart pig” could possibly be.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSLP0f0oaeilIORlVgEFQ50aNc_OeMTcGgamxUUThhtfQ&s
wondering what a “smart pig” could possibly be
a pig with lipstick & a degree !!
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.RIcqKZq-p5a2IxwPzwRVIQAAAA%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=03585c2367efcb62829526fec0445dbf162bb7759f78cc97f2c4c81bff4860fe&ipo=images
Pipelines don’t have thousands of union members, who pay dues, that are used by union management to line the re-election pockets of politicians.
Of course pipelines need to be shut down and replaced by rail.
Not pandering to the environmental idiots. Whitmer *is* an environmental idiot.
Worse, in light of her past behavior, Whitmer’s a tyrannical idiot. Given the present two-party choice, you should all now vote Republican, get through the current crisis of deadly idiocy, and then sort out the rest later.
I see Tulsi Gabbard has left the Democrats. Maybe she’ll form the nucleus of a new but sane center-left party. One that’s actually loyal to the Constitution and unashamedly patriotic. Imagine that.
She’s a lawyer. In Uni, I took a Business Law course with law students as part of the business options of my engineering degree. The law students excelled at memorizing what they were told…and the engineering students excelled at derivation from basic principals.
In general, it appeared to me that the “highly intelligent” part of the bell curve was a lot smaller for law students than it was for engineering and science students. But then again, I might be biased….
But the number of politicians that are lawyers, whilst nearly none are engineers should be disconcerting to the average voter….
A teacher once put this concept perfectly. He said that most politicians are bad lawyers; if they were good lawyers they would be busy working, but since they weren’t, they had lots of time to hang around at town halls and other centers of politics…
We are on our annual migration south, passing thru the fly-over states. We have enjoyed camping at the state parks bordering the artificial lakes created by the army corp of engineers in the 30’s for flood control and irrigation. The wealth, recreation and tourism created. We were remarking on how none of this would be possible in today’s environmental zeal.
Are you a climate refugee ??
It’s the Army Corp<b>s</b> of Engineers. A corps (“s” is silent) is a large cohesive body of troops constituted within one of the armed services, like the US Marine Corps or the old US Army Air Corps. Corp is an abbreviation for corporation, which the Marines and the Engineers most definitely are not.
The “p” is silent too 🙂 (cue all the pee jokes)
This may be Frau Whitlers
Fatal error she just lost the election.
4e, never under estimate the stupidity of a michigan leftist democrat.
Propane is mostly a rural heating fuel in Michigan in areas of majority Republicans voters. Witchmer is vindictive.
Unlike solar & wind…
Propane trucks make the delivery to end users from storage sites regardless. Shutting down the pipeline is very advantageous to the railroad companies that primarily support her Dem party, not unlike Obamas Keystone XL shutdown has resulted in $Billions of revenue to a few rail companies, at the expense of Canadian oil companies…oops, those companies have huge US shareholder investment in them too….
Warren Buffet was a very, very large stockholder in one of those railroads who has reaped great benefits from the shutdown of the Keystone XL. I assume he still is as he doesn’t often sell stock.
Keystone XL never got more than about 8% completed, even with Trump as president for four of the years.
Because of US regulations which don’t allow the immediate ISSUANCE of permits but does allow the immediate cancellation of such permits.
TRUMP! had to go through months of following proper procedures to get the pipeline approved.
Brandon shut it down on day ONE of his presidency.
FJB and F Leftists.
The Keystone Pipeline Project had IV phases. Phases I, II and III totaling 2,925 miles were completed. Phase IV (named Keystone XL) was planned at 1,209 miles, for a total project length of 4,134 miles. So, 71% of the Keystone Pipeline Project was completed. Let’s Go Brandon.
After DAPL got past all the eco freak BS, they completed the line in 4 months. Pipelining is not hard. They can get Keystone XL up and running in a year.
He owns BNSF outright.
Yes, follow the money.
One aspect of this particular pipeline is that there is no rail line on the Mackinac Bridge.
You have to look at Michigan’s political geography. Most of the propane users live in Northern Michigan and tend to vote Republican. Most of the “shut down Line 5” crowd live in Southern Michigan and vote Democratic. They are supplied natural gas through a pipeline network. They have been convinced that rupture of Line 5 is likely. Add in propaganda about “climate crisis”’ and you can understand the support for shutting the pipeline.
Suggest everyone calms down and read this
https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2021/10/statement-by-minister-garneau-on-line-5-transit-pipeline.html
Thanks Mike.
You can’t suggest that people calm down. This is the internet!
You certainly cannot post links deflating the alarmism of the day.
“That’s not how this works. That’s not how any of this works!”
Nothing on the pipeline has happened, yet. It may be best to wait and see what happens before panicking, or celebrating.
Worth a try?
“Line 5 has been the safest way to transport Canadian hydrocarbons from western Canada to central Canada”.
A lie of omission. Canada has no pipeline from west to east except via the US.
Quebec blocked plans to create an all canadian pipeline from the west. Cut line 5 and a whole lot of central canada is in deep caca.
And IF the western provinces of Canada succeed from the country, they can charge the rest, Ontario and Quebec, etc. whatever they want for the fossil fuels. They have only the St Lawrence Seaway to get the fuel shipped in from the Atlantic.
Suscede
Your “A lie of omission. Canada has no pipeline from west to east except via the US.” has no relationship to Canada’s “Line 5 has been the safest way to transport Canadian hydrocarbons from western Canada to central Canada”. [sic] What are you trying to do here?
Trans Canada pipeline goes west to east through Ontario …. look it up. A natural gas pipeline.
For those who didn’t follow the link,
“Line 5 is governed by the provisions of the 1977 Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America Concerning Transit Pipelines, which guarantees the uninterrupted transit of light crude oil and natural gas liquids between the two countries. Today, Canada is formally invoking the dispute settlement provision of the 1977 Agreement to ensure its full application.”
That agreement was an actual Treaty, approved by the Senate. (Unlike Obama’s Paris “agreement” which never went to the Senate.)
A treaty trumps a state’s laws.
Yes, that’s the gist of what our Constitution says.
Our Constitution provides that the Federal government has sole authority in dealing with foreign nations. If Witless thinks she can shut down Line 5 she is delusional.
… regardless of what she thinks about Line 5, she is delusional.
It’s stuff like this that will get the average citizen to start questioning AGW. When the “fix” is for you, not them, to stop using energy to support your lifestyle (or even life), not their’s the shit will hit the fan.
That pipeline runs between along Highway 2 in Minnesota. It replacement change routes to avoid Indian reservations. That did not stop the protested on junction between a state road and country road was where the protested set up. It was private land no matter the set up there anyway. Once they left they left so much trash behind it look like a dump from my childhood. These green don’t give a rats behind about the environment is only about power.
Line 5 originates in Superior WI. Zero right of way in MN.
You are only sort of correct, but so is mal. The Enbridge system enters Minnesota from Manitoba as Line 1, passes through Bemidji–that’s US 2, right?– then from Superior, Wisconsin, the branch that goes to Mackinac and back into Canada at Sarnia is called Line 5. The whole thing is a Western Canada-to-Eastern Canada pipeline with various branches in the U.S. Building pipelines across the granite of the Canadian Shield on an all-Canada route would be prohibitively difficult and expensive. Not only for construction but for bribing various Native bands who would kick up an unholy ruckus. Building new pipelines in Canada is impossible forever. We even have a law, Bill C-69, called the “No More Pipelines Act.” So if Line 5 closes, we are screwed.
Whitmer tends to be a tyrant. She threateded to revoke the medical license of doctors who prescribed hydroxychloroquine for covid. see here Then she said people with motor boats could not use them, but sailboats and row boats were OK. link
What any of that has to do with Covid I don’t know. Seems she was trying to implement the Green new deal under the guise of Covid.
Regarding the motorboat thing, she and her husband own one. It was in storage. He tried to use her name to get it released so he could use it during the lockdowns.
(I don’t remember if it was just for him to use or for his family to use. I don’t remember if it worked.)
Here is the article about it link
Prescribing hydroxychloroquine for Covid is malpractice. Doctors doing so should be disciplined. Not for her to say, though. That rests with the state medical licensing and self-regulation body.
“Prescribing hydroxychloroquine for Covid is malpractice. Doctors doing so should be disciplined. Not for her to say, though. That rests with the state medical licensing and self-regulation body” (and Leslie MacMillan)
Anyone who thinks that banning the sale of vegetable seeds to stop the spread of Covid-19 is a good idea is insane anyway. You don’t need any other reasons.
I almost forgot about that.
Didn’t she also shut down hardware stores? I might be wrong about that.
The woman from planned parent/hood.
Propane is also the primary fuel used for grain drying.
Eric, I live in UP of Michigan so I have been inundated with Line 5 stuff for years.
This started a number of yrs ago when Weepy Bill came up to the Mackinac Bridge and demanded the shut down with the claim of eminent spill. The various Indian tribes jumped on the bandwagon and started using tribal treaties to push for shut sown.
A comprise was negotiated by governor before Whitmer for a buried tunnel to contain the pipe. Several law suits have been through the courts to stop construction. But so far the tunnel still is a go.
The anchor strike you mention caused a dent in the Line 5. It did cause a leak but from a communication cable and it was mineral oil. There is a standing notice to mariners not to anchor in the straits, but the tug was pushed by wind. The tug company was fined.
The pipe thickness has been measured in recent years and still falls within safety guidelines.
The Bridge and Line 5 are about the same age and more people have lost lives because of or due to the bridge than the pipeline. Plus as vehicles pass over the bridge oil, gas, hydraulic fluid, etc drop down into the water below. So it could be said the bridge causes more harm/pollution in the straits than the pipe.
I think there is a refinery near Toledo that uses oil from it. No one has ever talked about the damage/danger trucks and trains pose acting as an alternative for the pipe. A town in Canada burned down because a train crashed in it.
There are yard signs supporting both sides.
That’s why we call her Governor Witless
Richard Greene
Bingham Farms. Michigan
NJ people called one of their governers the same thing (Christine Todd Whitless in that case).
At least her opponent this November is taking up the issue.
The pattern, unfortunately, seems to be repeating in Michigan. Crazy left-wing media darling governor (Jennifer Granholm) wins second term easily, does her best to destroy the economy, finally gets replaced by a middle-road business owner.
Media does its best to destroy him, finds an issue to ride into national prominence (Flint water) and ties it to him instead of the left-wingers who managed Flint into that mess. New crazy left-wing media darling gets elected.
We can hope Whitmer is in danger of losing next month, but I doubt it will happen. It’s going to take energy prices at the level they’ll be in a couple of years to swing the pendulum.
Michigan likes to flirt with destruction before it considers breaking with its long-standing tradition of propping up Detroit at any cost. I wish we could trade Detroit to Canada for some small Western Ontario farming village.
Whitmer’s going national in four years. She’s too dumb to run a national campaign, so they’ll stick her in some cabinet role like Granholm’s, let her get filthy rich in return for the occasional spread in Vogue or wherever her talents lead her.
We’ll take Detroit only if the residents go somewhere else.
There’s also the Canadian side of the story. The pipeline connects to the Sarnia refinery, and without it, it might well close, meaning that product would have to be shipped in from much further afield at considerable expense, while causing many job losses.
“Freezing to death in winter would be worse than living with the risk of a pipeline rupture.”
Not for the politicians and envirofascists who run no risk of freezing to death in winter. The “little people” whose lives they so blithely order around are simply not important to them.
Just when, and how did these so called leaders get this kind of power? We do have a constitution no? Dictating what kind of energy we use, what kind of car we drive? I did not think the movie “Idiocracy” was a non fiction movie.
The writing was on the wall when the government dictated what kind of light bulb you could buy. Those twisted mini-flourescent bulbs are a joke that was foisted on the public to show that the government has power over you.
You will comply. Resistence is futile, according to them.
Our only hope is to remove the WEF and other authoritarian group sponsored politicians.
It will take years to drain the swamp so the sooner we start, the better.
The existence of a constitution is irrelevant when it’s flat-out ignored.
Whitmer, Newsome, Inslee, etc–who are the morons who keep voting these people in???
Leftists and dupes.
And Whitmer mis represents the pipeline, as carrying oil, which would cause massive pollution if ruptured. not propane, which would bubble off, evaporate.
It is supposed to be replaced, they were planning to shut it down months before the new line was to come online though. I think this was all already supposed to have happened and maybe covid has changed all schedules.
The line was scheduled to be replaced. The eco freaks were high off the DAPL and Keystone protests (literally) and went after the Line 5 replacement. The libtards agreed to deny permits for the replacement.
So they are caught in a contradiction. The eco freaks won’t let them build a replacement for the 70 yr. old line, but the treaty means the 70 yr.old line has to stay in operation.
One good thing about crude oil, it leaves a wax film on the line and corrosion is minimal. They will regularly smart pig it to inspect it, so it’s probably still a good line. The limit will be the external coating life.
Also, I suspect the “tunnel” is really a bore. Don’t know for sure.
I just calculated that the global population of 20,000,000,000,000,000,000 ants make 5.6 billion tonnes of CO2 every day… What is the governor doing about that?