A large protest in Minnesota this weekend is designed to show that the resistance to tar sands goes well beyond Keystone XL, as numerous environmental and social justice groups come together with Indigenous communities across the region to make their unified demands clear to all: “keep toxic tar sands out of America’s Heartland, fight for clean water, clean energy, and a safe climate.”

On Saturday, the Tar Sands Resistance March in downtown St. Paul will cap a week of convergences and local actions calling attention to and speaking out against various pipeline and infrastructure projects across the Midwest.

“This whole region should be concerned with the number of pipelines that are coming from the tar sands that seem to be where the action is right now and it’s just a wrong headed approach,” said Wade Schafer of the North Dakota Sierra Club.

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Thousands of people are expected to come out for the day of action, which organizers say might be the biggest anti-tar sands event in the Midwest, with activists joining from as far away as Nebraska and Ohio. In St. Paul, representatives for participating groups said they were particularly concerned with plans by Enbridge Energy to double the size of Line 67, which currently transports 450,000 barrels of tar sands per day through the state. Enbridge plans to expand that to 800,000 barrels, which will require constructing pump stations and other equipment in cities throughout Minnesota.
“This event is just one moment in a growing movement to stop tar sands and it is powerful.”
—Catherine Collentine, Sierra Club

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