White House, senators have ‘sympathy’ for Canada’s position on Line 5, says Wilkinson

WASHINGTON — Canada’s natural resources minister says he is hearing “significant sympathy” from U.S. officials for the plight of the Line 5 pipeline. 

Jonathan Wilkinson is in Washington, D.C., for meetings with lawmakers, Biden administration officials and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. 

Wilkinson says that while Canada is focused on keeping the cross-border pipeline operating, the government is also exploring contingency plans in the event a court orders it shut down. 

The state of Michigan wants Line 5 permanently shuttered for fear of an environmental disaster in the Straits of Mackinac, where the pipeline crosses the Great Lakes.