A number of organizations and citizens across Michigan are working to keep oil out of the Great Lakes and spur a transition to a clean energy economy.
We come from all walks of life and have our own areas of focus including concerns about water quality, Indigenous rights, climate change, pollution, sustainable economies, protecting sporting, commerce, and tourism, and protecting the jobs that are dependent on our water and our Pure Michigan way of life.
Visit our supporting organizations page to learn more about the organizations that are already working together on this effort.
THE BEGINNING OF THE MOVEMENT
In the fall of 2012, the National Wildlife Federation published a report called ‘Sunken Hazard: Aging oil pipelines beneath the Straits of Mackinac an ever-present threat to the Great Lakes’. This report highlighted the risk from the long-forgotten pipelines that have been submerged in the Straits of Mackinac since 1953. A group of citizens and organizations who were shocked to learn about this threat were inspired to hold a rally at the Straits of Mackinac.
On July 14, 2013, the Oil & Water Don't Mix: A Rally for the Great Lakes attracted nearly 500 people to hear speeches, listen to music, and to learn about the danger posed by a pipeline through this special place. International climate activist Bill McKibben, a founder of 350.org, attended and provided a motivational message. The rally received considerable media attention and attracted many more citizens to this cause.
Watch Impassioned Speeches and Highlights from the Rally
Together, we started a movement. Letters to the editor started appearing in newspapers across the state. U.S. Senators Levin and Stabenow requested more information from federal pipeline regulators. Attorney General Bill Schuette and DEQ Director Dan Wyant compelled Enbridge to deliver more information on the current status of their pipelines.
This was just the beginning.
GROWING THE MOVEMENT
As a partner in the Oil and Water Don’t Mix Rally, Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities (then called the Michigan Land Use Institute or MLUI) wanted to let more people know about the threat of the aging oil pipelines in our Great Lakes. In the spring of 2014 MLUI was invited to participate in a nationwide fundraising contest sponsored by Patagonia and Moosejaw. As a result of remarkable public support, MLUI placed 3rd in that nationwide contest, which helped launch this effort to develop this website and a Public Service Announcement that aired on broadcast and cable television across northern Michigan. This effort has been a true working partnership of the many organizations involved.
Watch Our Oil and Water Don't Mix TV Commercial
It is our desire for the residents of and visitors to Michigan to come together around our common concern: Protecting the amazing resource that is the Great Lakes. We invite you to get involved by following any of the links below. Share this on Twitter and Facebook and become a part of the solution.
When you give toward this effort will help to spread the word about the Enbridge Line 5 pipelines that threaten the Straits of Mackinac. In turn, we hope to inform even more citizens about this effort so that together we can build the political, legal, and regulatory pressure to keep oil out of the Great Lakes.