State Reps. Beau LaFave, of Iron Mountain, and Greg Markkanen, of Hancock, and state Sen. Ed McBroom, of Vulcan, last week responded to the governor’s recent order to shut down Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline – which delivers 65 percent of the propane used for heating homes and businesses of families in the Upper Peninsula.

“Once again, the governor would rather play political games than work with the Legislature when it comes to making major decisions that directly impact the lives of residents in the U.P.,” LaFave said. “She waited not even two weeks after the election to make this major announcement, without even attempting to reach out to the Legislature first. It’s clear she and Attorney General Dana Nessel are disconnected from the U.P. way of life, where we depend on affordable resources every day to make way through the Line 5 pipeline. What’s ridiculous is even the governor’s own task force acknowledges the line is necessary.”

Markkanen added that the agreement reached between state leaders and Enbridge years ago is the smartest, most common-sense plan for protecting our natural resources, providing hundreds of jobs, and delivering resources to Northern Michigan families.

“Not only will reconstructing a new tunnel 100 feet into the bedrock beneath the Straits of Mackinac protect our Great Lakes while also creating good-paying union jobs, but Enbridge is even footing the bill in total,” Markkanen said. “That’s $500 million that will not come from the pockets of Michigan’s hard-working families. This is truly the best solution for our communities throughout our state.”

McBroom said any push back on this project is purely political and based on misinformation.

“The administration’s recent actions seem to be the fulfillment of promises made during the campaign,” McBroom said. “The governor continues to slow-walk the tunnel project while pushing to close the pipeline without a real alternative in place. Now she tries to reassure us that the tunnel can proceed- for now- but offers no real assurances her administration and the AG, made up of her own hires who oppose to the tunnel and all propane use, will promise to stop fighting its expedited construction.”

All three legislators said despite the pushback, they will continue to fight for the continuation of the project.