President Biden,

Thank you for making the climate crisis one of the top priorities of your administration. We applaud you for rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement and canceling the Keystone XL pipeline. We now draw your  attention to another oil pipeline currently under construction in Minnesota that will carry the same product as the Keystone XL pipeline, dirty tar sands oil, at a similar amount of 760,000 barrels of oil per day. Once in operation, the carbon emissions this  pipeline would add to our atmosphere every year would be equivalent to the amount generated by 50 coal-fired power plants. 

In effect, allowing the Line 3 pipeline expansion is equivalent to permitting the construction of a new coal-fired power plant in every single state in the U.S. This runs in stark contrast to your stated goal of achieving a 100% clean energy economy and net zero emissions by 2050. We do not have the carbon budget nor financial budget to continue investing in fossil fuel infrastructure if we want to meet that ambitious but necessary goal.  

You have also directly stated a commitment to standing up against fossil fuel companies and other polluters who put their own profits over people and disproportionately harm communities of color and low income communities. Line 3 cuts through the heart of the Anishinaabe territory in Minnesota, violating treaty rights, damaging sacred wild rice beds, and threatening the health of our Indigenous communities. Your climate plan also promises that communities all across the U.S. will have access to clean, safe drinking water. Line 3 directly crosses the headwaters of the Mississippi River, and a spill would jeopardize the drinking water of millions of Americans who live downstream. Allowing the construction and operation of Line 3 to proceed goes against the principles of your climate plan. 

As health professionals, we recognize that climate change is a health emergency. We are already witnessing health impacts in our patient populations and in our communities, and we fear the worsening impacts that would result from the expansion of tar sands oil production that will be enabled through the completion of Line 3. Transitioning from fossil fuels to a clean energy future will yield short-term health benefits from avoided air and water pollution, and long-term health benefits that will allow future generations to thrive. 

President  Biden, it is in your power to protect the health of generations to come.  We urge you to  follow the science, listen to the voices of Indigenous frontline leaders, and stay true to the course charted by your proposed climate plan by putting an end to Line 3.