Morris County Youth Rally Against Line 3 Pipeline

The young activists protested in front of the banks funding the project

Morristown, NJ — A group of young people gathered in front of Bank of America on South Street this afternoon to protest the Line 3 tar sands pipeline being built in northern Minnesota. The pipeline project is owned by Enbridge, a company being funded by many banks including Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, TD Bank, and more. The protestors were a part of Sunrise Morris County, a local chapter of the Sunrise Movement, which is a national environmental justice organization. Miles Gorman, the organizer of the protest, has been protesting near-daily outside of the bank for 30 days.

The Line 3 pipeline, if completed, would transport crude oil from Alberta, Canada to Superior, Wisconsin. It would travel through Minnesota and invade Indigenous reservations and treaty areas. The people living in these areas already face water pollution and the destruction of their communities and resources due to the construction of the pipeline. The project will also cause pollution and greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 50 coal-fired plants – almost $300 billion in climate damage, and Enbridge’s poor safety history points to the probability of spills poisoning an average of over a thousand people every year. In addition to this, the path will plow through 3 major wetlands and floodplains, threatening flooding for tens of thousands of people.

“These banks are profiting off of the destruction of Indigenous land, thousands of lives, and our planet. We the youth will not let them get away with this. Yesterday, we saw Keystone XL fall, and Line 3 is next. Banks like these are selling the earth out from under our generation’s feet to make a quick buck. I fear for my future. The leaders of these megacorporations get away with this time and time again because those in charge of holding them accountable, like them, are old enough to have the privilege of dying of old age. They can afford to destroy our futures for profit because they will not be around to feel the repercussions. If the adults will not hold them accountable for their actions, we the youth will have to,” said 14-year-old climate activist Miles Gorman, the organizer of the protest. He has been protesting outside of the bank nearly every day since early June.

The rally was organized in solidarity with the Treaty People Gathering in northern Minnesota, where over 2000 people gathered over the past few days to protest the construction of the Line 3 pipeline on the land. Indigenous land defenders from the Ojibwe and Anishinaabe tribes, whose sacred lands would be destroyed by the project, led the fight on the frontlines.

Tara Houska, J.D. Founder of the GINIW Collective explains: “It’s great to hear the Biden administration acknowledges the U.S. shouldn’t bend to endless expansion dreams of Canadian tar sands companies — it would be better if President Biden took action, right now. Line 3 is a climate atrocity and a slap in the face to the multiple Ojibwe nations suing against its approval. Respect our sovereignty, respect climate science. Stop Line 3 before it’s too late; before our rivers, wetlands, and wild rice watersheds are violated irrevocably.”

Community members can aid in this effort to fight against the harmful pipeline. Visit this link from Stop The Money Pipeline, the leader in the funding-centered resistance, to learn more and take action against banks such as Bank of America and others to stop funding the Line 3 pipeline immediately.

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