The editorial board of The Cap Times saw a parked semi-trailer roll into a construction ditch in Iron County and, at once, declared that the end times had come. In fact, what they saw was a golden opportunity to advance their left-wing environmental agenda.
On Tuesday, an unoccupied Enbridge truck drove into an open excavation at a Line 5 valve project near Saxon, struck the pipe, and, as a result, some natural gas liquids leaked, leading to the evacuation of two houses in a rural area. Fortunately, no one was injured, and the line was stopped. This is what we call an industrial accident—something that should be investigated and corrected, not a sufficient reason to shut down the pipeline that prevents northern Wisconsin from freezing.
The Cap Times, always ready to take on the role of prosecutor, described the evidence as proof that Enbridge is a ‘corporate polluter’, that the DNR is aligned with the company, and that Tom Tiffany is a ‘climate-change-denying’ puppet—all simply because Enbridge’s PAC donated a total of $5,000 to his campaigns in 2020 and 2022. Five thousand dollars. In a congressional election. That isn’t a bribe; it barely registers as a donation. But in the calculation of progressives, it amounts to a scandal.
Then, perfectly parroting the Green New Deal agenda, the board finally said the quiet part out loud: Wisconsin must take the lead in moving away from fossil fuels. The leak is merely an excuse; the real aim is to advance their green agenda.
The 645-mile Line 5 route, running from Superior to Sarnia, carries about 540,000 barrels each day of light crude oil and natural gas liquids—amounting to up to 23 million gallons. These materials are then processed into propane, gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. As the Cap Times quoted Tiffany’s 2023 statement to ridicule it, that figure remains the relevant one: over 250,000 people in Wisconsin depend on propane to heat their homes. If the line were shut down, the product would not disappear; it would instead be transported by truck and rail. Enbridge has stated that replacing the volume carried by Line 5 would require thousands of tanker trucks each day. That would result in more accidents, greater emissions and higher prices—the very opposite of the ‘safety’ message being promoted from Madison.
The reroute is not the result of some secret scheme; it is due to a lawsuit. Twelve miles of the original 1953 pipeline pass through the Bad River Reservation. Since the easements had expired, the tribe took legal action in 2019, and a federal court ruled that this was trespassing. The 7th Circuit ordered Enbridge to leave the reservation but allowed it time to complete the reroute because, in reality, people need heat, jobs, and fuel. The 41-mile relocation, costing approximately $1 billion, is the off-ramp that courts and regulators have been looking at for years. Construction is now going ahead. Peak employment is expected to reach 700 union jobs and more than $100 million in economic activity for the state. The environmental activists and the Cap Times editorial board are demanding it be stopped.
Although the pipeline has existed for a long time, it’s been recently modernized. In February, an administrative law judge confirmed the DNR’s permits for wetlands, stormwater, and water quality after a review that lasted for several years. The Cap Times’ response to that decision has been to set up a new state oil-pipeline commission on the lines of Minnesota’s — yet another veto board for activists who have already been defeated by the DNR and in the contested-case hearings. The safety of interstate oil pipelines is a matter for the federal government. The Cap Times is aiming to create a second choke point.
Tiffany’s position is simple: Wisconsin shouldn’t freeze in January just to please a newsroom which never fears missing a propane delivery. He called out Gov. Tony Evers’ DNR for dragging its feet on the relocation permit for years. That is the story which the Cap Times is deliberately choosing to ignore. Once the state had finally granted the permits, the green legal team took legal action once more. When a truck drives into a hole, they see it as a sign.
Pipelines are not without risk, any more than the idea that Wisconsin can somehow ‘innovate’ its way out of relying on fuels which keep farms, hospitals, snowplows, and home furnaces going. The Cap Times is not holding anyone ‘accountable’; instead, it is using a construction accident, a drone video supplied by an environmental activist, and a political donation as weapons in its campaign to promote green energy against those who still have to fill up their tanks before winter arrives. The real issue is that every bit of vapor is being used as a pretext to close down the Midwest.
