Will gov. Walz kill thousands of minnesota jobs?

With many states already suffering financial losses due to the Biden administration’s implementation of new environmental policies, Minnesota may be next. Following the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline permit, many believe that this administration will turn its attention to Minnesota’s Line 3 project, but Governor Tim Walz continues to remain silent on the issue.

The Enbridge Line 3 project, which currently runs from Alberta, Canada to Superior, Wisconsin, would rework the pipeline to follow a different route throughout Minnesota. The intention of the $2.6 billion project is to not only replace Minnesota’s highest risk pipeline in an effort to preserve the environment from potential oil spills, but also to provide Northern residents with employment opportunities and financial gains. If the Line 3 restoration project is scrapped, hundreds of Minnesota laborers will be out of work. 

Prior to the pandemic and this administration, Northern Minnesota already struggled financially due to being mostly rural and with many industries moving to the Twin Cities. Yet, the Biden  administration continues to prove that the American workforce is not a priority. After the cancellation of the Keystone pipeline permit, 11,000 Americans immediately became unemployed. According to Kevin Pranis, the marketing manager for the Laborers’ International Union of North American in Minnesota and North Dakota, more American jobs will be in jeopardy with the cancellation of Line 3. 

According to Enbridge, the Line 3 project would generate about 8,600 jobs with about a third of them being in Minnesota. Governor Walz was quoted during his election campaign back in 2017 that Line 3 would be a “non-starter. Since then, he has also stated that he does not believe that the governor should decide whether or not the permit will be allowed, which should alarm many residents. Minnesotans deserve a governor who is willing to protect their livelihoods against an administration that has already proven it is willing to hurt hard-working Americans in the energy industry.