Advocacy News – March 15, 2022
With gas prices over $4 a gallon and oil production increasingly becoming a matter of national security, the Michigan Chamber continues to voice support for policies that encourage responsible domestic energy independence.
The Chamber supported resolutions calling for policies to increase energy independence in the state of Michigan. The resolution, SR 114, sponsored by State Sens. Dale Zorn and Lana Theis, states that: “enacting policies that will lead to energy independence is necessary for the safety and prosperity of the American people” and “ensuring that the United States’ economy can support itself without relying on supply chains that span the globe and without risk of 21 foreign political disruptions is critical to job growth and competition in the United States.”
One such policy is construction of the Great Lakes Tunnel to house Line 5 – an infrastructure project that not only would ensure protection of Michigan’s tremendous water resources, but also help ensure a reliable, affordable energy supply close to home.
The Governor and Attorney General have both promised to shutter the crucial pipeline without having an alternative or clear plan as to how further shocks to oil prices would be avoided. A study released last week showed that closing Line 5 could lead to $5.9 billion in added costs to Midwest consumers from gas and diesel price increases.
“Consumers in Michigan and the Midwest region are already facing the highest gas prices since 2008. Closing Line 5 would only further exacerbate price spikes at the pump, all while making it harder to get Michigan’s energy resources to market during a time of global instability,” said Mike Alaimo, Director of Environmental and Energy Affairs for the Michigan Chamber of Commerce. “We should be laser-focused on building the Great Lakes Tunnel to protect both our environment and our economy, creating and retaining jobs in the process.”
The Michigan Chamber also just filed an amicus brief in cooperation with several other chambers, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin chambers. The brief essentially lays out how the Governor is trying to prevent the federal court from deciding whether her order to close Line 5 is legal. Meanwhile, it points out she has left that order in place despite the economic uncertainty it creates and its potential to prevent construction of the Great Lakes Tunnel. “Shutting down the pipeline would carry tremendous negative consequences for the Chambers’ members and the economies of the United States and Canada. Such a shutdown would constrain an already disrupted energy supply, an especially problematic development given recent decisions related to importation of petroleum products from Russia.”
For more information, please contact Mike Alaimo at malaimo@michamber.com.