With 16 days left in office, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is moving at breakneck, if not reckless speed to bind the State of Michigan to a 99-year lease with Enbridge to operate an oil tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac — and to permit the current submerged Line 5 pipelines to continue operating up to another 10 years, posing a continuing risk to the Great Lakes.
Why is he so determined to continue offering the Straits as a shortcut for Canadian petroleum to reach a Canadian refinery in Sarnia, with small benefit to Michigan that could not be achieved without a pipeline? There’s no way to be sure right now. But there may be a clue here. “Every Michigander should thank every Canadian,” the Governor said not long ago. He was referring to a deal in which Canada is paying to build the Gordie Howe International Bridge spanning Detroit and Windsor.