This last week was a busy one for CFACT students in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin. Eager to spread the positive role pipelines can play in protecting the environment, CFACT students protested at both the University of Wisconsin-Superior and University of Minnesota Duluth campuses. For the students at these campuses, the issue of pipelines really hit close to home. Superior Wisconsin, and its neighbor Duluth MN, stand to gain a lot from the Sandpiper Oil Pipeline, which ends in Superior. It would bring jobs to the region and economic growth too. The Sandpiper Pipeline would also get oil off of railroad cars and transport it safely away from populated regions, like the Twin Cities.
One student, who was protesting with us, said “it is crazy how much oil we use. Many people think stopping pipelines will stop the oil, but that isn’t the case. We need to move it in a responsibly, which means putting it in a pipeline.” Other students shared his sentiment, and eagerly joined us to stand up for the pipeline.
Another reason the pipeline would be a good fit for the Iron Range of Minnesota is the benefits it would provide to the local economy. Only so much material can be transported by rail, and as more and more oil moves out of North Dakota by rail, the price to move other goods, such as materials from the minds of the Iron Range, increases. In addition to the economic benefit of new jobs in the region, building the Sandpiper Pipeline would help alleviate this problem.
CFACT’s pipeline tour is only getting started. Be sure to check back later in the week to see what happens at our next protest in Minneapolis!
