By Izzy Ross, IPR and Teresa Homsi, WCMU
This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Interlochen Public Radio and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.
The final day for the public to comment on a federal environmental review of the Line 5 tunnel is approaching on June 30.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/06/a-guide-to-the-federal-review-of-the-line-5-tunnel/
By Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio
This article was republished here with permission from Wisconsin Public Radio.
Enbridge’s proposed $1 billion Line 5 tunnel project would harm water and wetlands, according to a draft environmental review released Friday by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/06/federal-agency-finds-great-lakes-tunnel-project-poses-detrimental-effects-to-water-wetlands/
Wisconsin officials put a controversial pipeline reroute one step closer to construction last week when they issued permits for Enbridge Energy, a Canadian oil company, to move a section of Line 5 off of Tribal land in the far northern part of the state. Construction and agricultural industry groups cheered the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ decision.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/11/energy-news-roundup-line-5s-potential-reroute-plus-mining-permits-stoke-fears-of-contamination/
The 2024 presidential election campaign is in the homestretch and results in the Great Lakes states of Michigan and Wisconsin could determine the winner. Vice-President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump covet the electors in both states and polling indicates they could go either way.
Great Lakes Now selected three key topics — Great Lakes restoration, Line 5 and groundwater — and asked veteran policy experts Rob Sisson and Lana Pollack for their views on how a Harris or Trump presidency may deal with them.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/what-a-trump-vs-harris-presidency-might-mean-for-the-great-lakes/
By Todd Richmond, Associated Press
Environmentalists are challenging Michigan regulators’ decision to approve encasing part of an aging Enbridge Energy oil pipeline that runs beneath a channel connecting two Great Lakes, arguing that they failed to properly consider alternatives that would minimize climate impacts.
The Environmental Law & Policy Center and the Michigan Climate Action Network filed a brief with a state appellate court Thursday.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/07/environmentalists-appeal-michigan-regulators-approval-of-pipeline-tunnel-project/
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s record on the Line 5 oil pipeline that traverses the Straits of Mackinac is mixed, according to Lansing advocate Sean McBrearty.
When running for governor in 2018, “Whitmer pledged to do everything in her power to take Line 5 out of the Great Lakes,” McBrearty told Great Lakes Now in a recent interview.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/04/line-5-activist-group-wants-gov-whitmer-to-be-an-advocate-for-shutdown/
By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio
This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR and Grist, a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.
Twelve miles of the Line 5 pipeline cross the lands of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in northern Wisconsin.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/03/tribes-urge-u-s-to-weigh-in-on-line-5-case-as-appeal-sits-in-court/
By Fatima Syed, The Narwhal
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/02/ontario-sides-with-enbridge-gas-fight-to-connect-new-homes-to-natural-gas/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois
Utility co-op aims to stay ahead of the power curve — Southern Illinoisan
A new Illinois law that took effect on Jan.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/01/energy-news-roundup-line-5-approval-is-appealed-by-tribes-and-environmental-groups/
By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio
This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR and Grist, a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.
A Great Lakes water law and policy center in Traverse City is appealing a state permit for the Line 5 tunnel project.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/01/traverse-city-based-policy-center-appeals-michigans-line-5-permit/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois
Illinois wants Spire to show it shouldn’t be held in contempt over its embattled pipeline — St.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/10/energy-news-roundup-vision-green-energy-underserved-communities-nationwide-burst-clean-energy-jobs/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/10/enbridge-federal-review-of-line-5-tunnel-permit-is-inexplicably-lethargic/
June 27, 2023
Fresh is a biweekly newsletter from Circle of Blue that unpacks the biggest international, state, and local policy news stories facing the Great Lakes region today. Sign up for Fresh: A Great Lakes Policy Briefing, straight to your inbox, every other Tuesday.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/06/fresh-federal-judge-orders-line-5-shutdown-on-tribal-land-in-wisconsin/
By Lester Graham, Michigan Radio
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/06/judge-orders-segment-enbridges-line-5-shut-down-moved-native-land/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/05/lawsuits-stalled-michigan-nessel-seeks-line-5-shutdown-wisconsin/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois
Chicago’s Blacks in Green gets a major boost from a $10 million EPA grant — Energy News Network
Chicago’s Blacks in Green receives a five-year, $10 million U.S.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/05/energy-news-roundup-line-5-negotiations-michigan-funding-clean-energy-illinois/
There were two differing visions on how to deal with the global water crisis at the recent United Nations World Water Conference, according to former U.N. water adviser Maude Barlow.
One, would “treat water as a commodity like oil and gas and put it on the open market for sale,” Barlow said.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/04/former-adviser-warns-water-futures-trading-water-crisis-level-climate/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/03/enbridge-line-5-tunnel-project-michigan-delayed/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/02/nessel-try-again-return-line-5-lawsuit-state-court/
Broadcasting in our monthly PBS television program, The Catch is a Great Lakes Now series that brings you more news about the lakes you love. Go beyond the headlines with reporters from around the region who cover the lakes and drinking water issues. Find all the work HERE.
This month, The Catch features a story about Enbridge Energy.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/12/the-catch-latest-on-enbridge-line-3/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois
At a central Illinois feed mill, electricity was exceeding grain costs as its biggest operating expense.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/12/energy-news-roundup-lawsuit-possible-in-illinois-wind-farm-controversy-anti-wind-group-grows-in-ohio/
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal judge has ordered energy company Enbridge Inc. and an American Indian tribe to come up with an emergency plan to prevent potential spills from an aging oil pipeline running across the tribe’s reservation.
The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa sued Enbridge in federal court in 2019 to force the company to remove a section of the Line 5 pipeline that runs across the tribe’s reservation in northern Wisconsin, arguing the nearly 70-year-old line poses an unreasonable risk to health and safety.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/11/ap-judge-orders-enbridge-tribe-form-emergency-plan/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/11/why-line-5-likely-remain-open-despite-democratic-control-lansing/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois
The town of Zion, Illinois, went into an economic spiral after the sudden closure of a nuclear power plant 25 years ago.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/11/energy-news-roundup-nuclear-communities-sidelined-mid-michigan-wind-energy/
MONACA, Pa. (AP) — Years in the works, a massive petrochemical refinery in western Pennsylvania fed by the vast natural gas reservoir underneath Appalachia became fully operational Tuesday, oil and gas giant Shell plc said.
The refinery, built on the site of a former zinc smelter along the Ohio River some 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of Pittsburgh, will produce 3.5 billion pounds (1.6 billion kilograms) of polyethylene annually when it ramps up to full production by the second half of 2023, Shell said.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/11/ap-shell-ethane-cracker-starts-up/
DETROIT (AP) — Sailors who lost their lives in shipwrecks on the Great Lakes and Michigan waterways will be remembered at a historic church in downtown Detroit.
The annual Great Lakes Memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday and will be livestreamed from Mariners’ Church along the Detroit River.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/11/ap-detroit-church-to-remember-sailors-lost-on-great-lakes/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois
Chicago entrepreneur Arthur Burton is closing the gap in solar and electric vehicle charging stations in disinvested communities, while providing job training opportunities for at-risk youth.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/11/energy-news-roundup-electric-school-buses-solar-powered-recreational-boats-on-the-rise/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois
Chicago transit advocates raise concerns over a state transportation plan that calls for more expressway lanes instead of prioritizing public transit.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/10/energy-news-roundup-michigan-study-of-nuclear-power-clean-energy-jobs-wisconsin/
By Andy Balaskovitz, Energy News Network
This story was first published on the Energy News Network and was republished here with permission.
PIPELINES: Enbridge will pay more than $11 million to settle water quality violations and three aquifer breaches related to Line 3 construction in northern Minnesota; Attorney General Keith Ellison also announced a misdemeanor criminal charge for the company’s alleged taking of water without a permit.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/10/enbridge-will-pay-11m-fine-for-minnesota-water-violations/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois
With a 100% carbon-free electricity target by 2045, Illinois must now grapple with the complexities over how exactly to reach that goal.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/10/energy-news-roundup-indigenous-communities-clean-energy-solutions/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois
Illinois Gov.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/09/energy-news-roundup-line-3-protests-renewable-energy-efforts-growing/
When we think of our cherished dogs, most of us don’t easily make a connection to environmental policy or protecting the Great Lakes.
But that’s the path Traverse City’s Dave Dempsey followed in his latest book release, Half Wild: People, Dogs and Environmental Policy.
The premise of the book examines our tendency to engage in binary thinking on protecting the environment and the Great Lakes, much like dogs who are domesticated but retain long-ingrained wild tendencies.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/09/dave-dempsey-people-dogs-and-environmental-policy/
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal judge will allow an oil and gas pipeline to continue to flow on a northern Wisconsin American Indian reservation while its operators work to reroute the line around the tribal land.
The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa sued Enbridge in 2019 demanding it remove the section of line that runs across the tribe’s reservation in Ashland County.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/09/ap-pipeline-can-operate-on-reservation-reroute-work/
By Lester Graham, Michigan Radio
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/09/judge-line-5-enbridge-trespassing-native-american-reservation/
By Lester Graham, Michigan Radio
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/09/line-5-comments-army-corps-engineers/
By John Flesher, AP Environmental Writer
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan regulatory panel said Thursday that it needs more information about safety risks before it can rule on Enbridge Energy’s plan to extend an oil pipeline through a tunnel beneath a waterway linking two of the Great Lakes.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/07/ap-michigan-panel-details-great-lakes-pipeline-tunnel/
By Mitchell Beer, The Energy Mix
This story originally appeared in The Energy Mix and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.
The Ontario Energy Board sent minor shock waves through the province’s energy regulatory and municipal energy communities earlier this month with its refusal to approve the final phases of a $123.7-million pipeline replacement project in Ottawa proposed by Enbridge Gas.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/ontario-regulator-refuses-pipeline-enbridge-gas/
One of the latest updates in Enbridge’s ongoing Line 5 court cases is a report from Neil Earnest, president of an energy consultancy firm, filed by Enbridge.
In the report, Earnest estimates that in the event of a Line 5 shutdown, gas, jet fuel and diesel prices would increase by half a cent per gallon in Michigan and Wisconsin, and 5 cents per gallon in Ontario.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/line-5-shutdown-gas-prices-half-cent-increase/
This story is part of “Water’s True Cost,” a series by the Great Lakes News Collaborative focused on the rising cost of water in Michigan and the various causes leading to the state of water systems today. Find the rest of the stories in the series here.
In 2014, the legacy problem of lead pipes throughout the nation came to a head in Flint, Michigan, when the city emergency manager’s decision to switch the water source and not treat it to prevent corrosion led to lead leaching from the pipes into the city’s drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/michigans-water-systems-city-populations/
By Marc Levy, Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — More than two years after he started work on it, Gov. Tom Wolf is set to enact the centerpiece of his plan to fight climate change, making Pennsylvania the first major fossil fuel state to adopt a carbon pricing policy — but it might be a short-lived victory.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/ap-greenhouse-gas-state-climate-step/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois:
On April 15, 2022, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA, IEPA, or Agency) approved a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit for Williamson Energy, LLC Pond Creek Mine No.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/energy-news-roundup-ontario-natural-gas-energy-department-cybersecurity/
By Marc Levy, Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Republican Bill McSwain pledges to be a pro-energy governor by “turning on the spigot of natural gas.” Another hopeful, Dave White, says he wants Pennsylvania “to be the energy capital of the world.” A third candidate, Lou Barletta, says having a glut of natural gas in the ground without a pipeline is “like being in college and having a keg of beer without a tap.”
In Pennsylvania, the No.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/ap-energy-promises-face-limits/
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The comment period on a draft analysis of the environmental impact of rerouting an oil and gas pipeline around an American Indian reservation in northern Wisconsin will run for an additional month, state regulators announced Wednesday.
The Enbridge Line 5 pipeline carries oil and natural gas liquids from Superior to Sarnia.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/ap-dnr-extends-comment-period-enbridge-reroute/
By Lester Graham, Michigan Radio
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/gas-oil-industry-price-hikes-enbridge-line-5-shut-down/
By Lester Graham, Michigan Radio
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/02/line-5-impact-climate-change-reviewed/
By Zahra Ahmad, Bridge Michigan
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/02/new-report-enbridge-line-5-closure-michigan/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois:
Aiming to increase diversity in wind and solar jobs, a proposed measure in the Illinois General Assembly would require more transparent reporting on the level of participation of minority-owned businesses in clean energy jobs.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/01/energy-news-roundup-nuclear-bill-natural-gas/
In November 2020, shortly after President Joe Biden was elected, Great Lakes Now talked with University of Detroit Mercy associate professor Nick Schroeck about the opportunities and challenges facing the president-elect.
Schroeck is an environmental law attorney and urban policy expert who has a background in transboundary legal issues between the U.S.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/01/bidens-first-year/
A new round of court proceedings commences in the long-running Enbridge Inc. Line 5 saga as Administrative Law Judge Dennis Mack oversees the cross-examination of a series of witnesses starting on Jan. 14.
The results of this cross-examination will play a role in the Michigan Public Service Commission’s decision on whether or not to grant Enbridge one of the key permits it needs to construct the Line 5 tunnel.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/01/enbridge-court-michigan-public-service-commission-line-5-permit/
For Professor Nancy Langston, our intransigence in protecting struggling species like caribou and others is a puzzle. These species exist in our memories and culture, and we’ve invested in protecting them, so why do their populations continue to crash?
That’s the question at the core of Langston’s latest book, “Climate Ghosts: Migratory Species in the Anthropocene”.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/01/climate-ghosts-author/
