LANSING, MI – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel took her war on Michigan family incomes to Cincinnati today, where her office appeared before the US Court of Appeals to insist Michigan Democrats be empowered to shut down a critical international energy pipeline.
Nessel today spoke at a rally before a federal court hearing in the Sixth District Court advocating for Gov. Whitmer’s right to shut down the Line 5 pipeline, which supplies crucial fuel to the US energy market.
“Michigan families are already struggling to get by, but instead of being part of the solution, Attorney General Nessel is part of the problem. Nessel is wasting time and resources to try and shut down Line 5, which would drastically diminish our region’s fuel supply when Michigan prices are already spiking at $3.65 a gallon,” said Zach Rudat, Advocacy Director of the Michigan Freedom Fund. “Household income gains can’t keep up with inflation, property taxes are on the rise, the income tax is on the rise, and drivers are facing record prices at the pump.”
“Why does AG Nessel want to pour gas on an already raging cost of living crisis?” Rudat added, citing a AAA report indicating that a tightening fuel supply as a leading cause of record gas prices. Shutting down Line 5 would result in a 14.7 million gallon-per-day shortage of fuel in the Great Lakes region, roughly 45 percent of current supplies.
This is the latest in a legal battle to shut down the pipeline that Nessel started back in 2019. Nessel initially filed the lawsuit in Ingham County Circuit Court, alleging that the pipeline violated the Michigan Environmental Protection Act.
Enbridge successfully moved the lawsuit to federal court back in 2021, today’s oral argument is an attempt by Nessel to reverse that decision.
