Stop Line 3 for a Just and Sustainable World
Hundreds of people participating in our interfaith delegation stood together looking for three stars in the sky so that we could begin Havdalah. We were standing on the shores of one of Minnesota’s ten thousand lakes, where we were assembled to support Anishinaabe activists opposing the construction of the Line 3 pipeline. The opening words of Havdalah spoke to my feelings in that moment: HInei el yeshuati. God is here with me. I will not be afraid. I will draw water in joy from the springs of hope.
A young Jewish activist had reached out to ask me to go to the Treaty People’s Gathering at the beginning of June. Local indigenous leaders, who have been fighting Line 3 for 7 years, had asked for people to come to help them bring national attention to the struggle. Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light, Greenfaith, and Dayenu, among others, answered the call to organize a delegation of people of faith. Although I had never participated in this kind of action before, when I realized that I could go, I felt compelled to say yes.
Line 3, currently under construction, is designed to carry tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada to Superior Wisconsin. While Enbridge, the company behind the pipeline, calls this a replacement pipeline, in fact it will have twice the capacity of the old one, carry more dangerous and more polluting oil, and open a new corridor for half its route, endangering untouched land and water.
The morning after the moving Havdalah, my group arrived at the campsite where we would receive orientation and training. Despite temperatures in the mid-90’s, spirits were high as over one thousand people from all over the country convened. Following prayers, music, and training in direct action, we practiced our roles for the coming day of action.
I was most moved by the stories of Anishinaabe leaders who described their people’s struggles to overcome so many acts of oppression, including the legacy of the Indian boarding schools. I learned that Line 3 is planned to cross 43 wild rice lakes. An oil spill would be a severe violation of the Anishinaabe people’s treaty rights to gather wild rice, which is a sacred food that is central to their culture.
While I did my best to stay in the shade and drink water, the extreme heat took its toll. I spent most of the night in the emergency room of the local hospital recovering from heat exhaustion. My experience drove home the point that if built, Line 3 will dramatically worsen climate change. In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, expanding Line 3 is equivalent to adding 50 new coal-fired power plants. If Line 3 is completed we can only expect more heat waves in Minnesota.
I had to miss the prayer service and march the next morning. While I tried to stay cool, hundreds of people engaged in direct action to stop work at several sites along the route of the pipeline. Brave activists spent a frightening night chained to construction equipment to the accompaniment of thunder and lightning. The next day they were hauled off to local jails by police forces whose expenses are being paid by the pipeline company.
The members of my group agreed that we could not leave the region without stopping to visit the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Astoundingly, the source of the mighty river is a tiny spring that feeds Itasca Lake, which is very close to the route of Line 3. As I immersed in the lake, I felt moved to say the shehechiyanu prayer. I felt blessed to have had the opportunity to participate in this holy gathering and to play a small part in the movement to put our world on a more just and sustainable path.
Dr. Mirele Goldsmith
Co-Founder of Jewish Earth Alliance, Co-Founder of JCAN NYC