Tim Walz, the vice presidential pick of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, is “one of the nation’s most forceful climate advocates.” As governor of Minnesota, he helped pass one of the most aggressive fossil fuel phase-out laws in the country. He signed legislation to speed up the permitting process for renewable energy; ushered in a sweeping, $2 billion law funding decarbonization, environmental justice initiatives, and clean water protections; and passed a $9 billion sustainable transportation law. 

But if you ask Indigenous water protectors in Minnesota about Walz, they won’t primarily bring up the governor’s green achievements.

They’ll bring up the fact that Walz allowed a massive new tar sands pipeline to pass through their treaty-protected lands—after explicitly promising he wouldn’t. 

“He went back on a very important promise to Minnesotans”

The $2.6 billion Line 3 pipeline, which officially went online in 2021, was proposed by the Canadian oil company Enbridge in 2014. Its purpose was to replace a much older pipeline, while nearly doubling the volume of carbon-intensive tar sands crude oil being transported from Alberta through Minnesota. 

During his campaign for governor in 2017, Tim Walz called Line 3 “a non-starter”—and not just because it would ensure increased production of tar sands oil for decades. The pipeline’s route, he noted, was slated to pass through hundreds of lakes, rivers, aqueducts and wetlands—as well as land that the region’s native Anishinaabe people say is protected by U.S. treaties with Ojibwe nations.

“Any line that goes through treaty lands is a non-starter for me,” Walz said. “The [environmental impact statement] is clear—every route would disproportionately and adversely affect native people. Unacceptable.”

When Walz was elected a few months later, he did try to halt the pipeline’s development. Early in his first term, Walz continued a legal challenge from his predecessor’s administration against Line 3, which he continued until 2020.

But after that legal challenge was rejected, Walz declined to use his executive powers to stop the pipeline, and his administration approved key construction permits that allowed the pipeline to move forward. He told MinnPost in 2019 that he believed a unilateral decision “would violate principles of ‘checks and balances’ between the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government.”

“If you fall on the side that says, ‘Well, the governor should just stop this; it’s the right thing to do,’ then you would be making the case that the next governor should just build one, without any environmental review, without any process involved,” Walz said at the time.

Indigenous water protectors who spent years resisting Line 3 told HEATED they viewed Walz’s decision as a betrayal of what he promised Indigenous voters during his gubernatorial run.

“He went back on a very important promise to Minnesotans and allowed poison to flow through our lands and precious waterways,” said Simone Senogles, a Red Lake Anishinaabe water protector and operations director at the nonprofit Indigenous Environmental Network. “I wish Vice President Harris had chosen someone with a track record for environmental protection."

“The Native community really showed up, and came out with votes in the thousands,” said Gina Peltier, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe. “And once they were elected, they turned around and they approved the permits for Pipeline 3.”

The Harris-Walz campaign did not return HEATED’s request for comment.

Peltier said that Walz not only allowed Line 3 to go forward—a decision she described as “devastating”—he supported a police force who often engaged in violent tactics against protesters engaging in peaceful direct action. In some instances, federal police helicopters sand-blasted Indigenous protesters, while state police surveilled water protectors and journalists. Nearly 900 people overall were arrested during the Line 3 protests. 

“I witnessed elders who could barely walk thrown violently to the ground by police officers three times their size. People who were in prayer were violently arrested,” she said. “And to think that Walz, who allowed that behavior, might become vice president of the United States is terrifying.” 

Walz has been lauded in the press for being the first governor to meet with all 11 tribal nations in Minnesota; signing an executive order affirming tribal sovereignty; and for appointing Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who is a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe—making her Minnesota's first Native statewide elected official. 

But Peltier said that he is merely getting credit for the work done by Indigenous women representatives and senators—including Flanagan.

“He is using Indigenous relations to further his political career," she said.

Hope for the first Indigenous woman governor

If Walz is elected vice president in November, he would vacate the role of Minnesota governor, and the position would be passed to Flanagan. That would make Flanagan the state’s first Indigenous governor, and the first Indigenous woman governor in the country.

That potentially historic first is a hopeful sign for some, as an Indigenous governor could prioritize the issues most important to the 11 sovereign tribal nations in the state. Already as lieutenant governor, Flanagan helped establish the first office for Murdered and Missing Indigenous Relatives; sponsored a law affirming tribal sovereignty and appointing tribal-state liaisons; and helped pass legislation that keeps Indigenous families together and integrates Anishinaabe and Dakota history and culture into the public school curriculum.

If she did become governor, it would be the first time the highest officer in the state understands “the importance of protecting the sacred food manoomin, our waters, land, air, and sacredness of Mother Earth,” said Tom B.K. Goldtooth, a member of the Diné and Dakota tribes and the executive director of IEN, via email. Manoomin refers to wild rice, which is of historical, spiritual, and cultural importance for the Ojibwe people.

“I am hopeful because she’s an Indigenous woman, and as Indigenous women, we have an obligation to protect the water and the land,” said Peltier. 

But that hope is tempered by experience. If she assumes office, Flanagan will have to wrestle with the broken trust between her and the people who had hoped she would fight to protect the waters of her homeland. 

But just because Flanagan is Indigenous, doesn’t mean she’s politically aligned with all water protectors, Senogles pointed out. “I'm always in support of Indigenous women occupying positions of influence and power,” she said. “We just ask that she take up her responsibility as Anishinaabe and take care of her lands and waters to the best of her ability, especially if she does get to occupy this position of power.”

That would include passing more stringent water and land protection policies, supporting tribal water and land governance models, and allocating more resources towards protecting Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. “I would hope that she would have a deeper and more authentic relationship with the tribes here in Minnesota,” said Senogles. “And not just give lip service.”

But both Senogles and Peltier understand that Flanagan is just one person in a system that’s designed for her to fail. For example, neither of them thought Flanagan could change the police violence directed at Indigenous land defenders and water protectors.

“We also have to be realistic about what she’s up against,” said Senogles, which she said included the U.S. long history of genocide, racism, capitalism, and the patriarchy. “One term is not going to undo that,” she said. “And so we have compassion for her and we support her, while we still try to hold her accountable.”

More climate world reactions to Walz:

• “Walz is deeply complex but he is someone we can move,” wrote Michael Greenberg, founder of the civil disobedience group Climate Defiance, in an email to supporters. He called Walz a “coward” for allowing Line 3 to move forward.
  

• “He can't be bought by the fossil fuel industry,” said Gina McCarthy, former EPA Administrator under President Obama and White House national climate advisor under Biden, in a statement. “He gets that climate action isn't about politics, it's about protecting our small towns and cities. It's about creating safer and healthier communities for our kids and grandkids to grow up in.”
  

• “His lack of action to stop the Line 3 pipeline shows a troubling deference to fossil fuel interests,” said Collin Rees, political director of Oil Change U.S., in a statement—though he ultimately called Harris’s selection of Walz an “encouraging sign.”
  

• “He worked across the aisle on some really practical, impactful energy policy changes, and got those through,” said Audrey Partridge, the policy director for the Minneapolis-based Center for Energy and Environment, in an interview with Inside Climate News. 

Previous HEATED coverage of Line 3:

In 2021, Emily traveled to Minnesota to cover escalating indigenous-led direct actions against the pipeline’s construction. Here are some highlights:

• Outlining the Line 3 fight and why it was intensifying

• Explaining the rationale for direct action and civil disobedience 

• Revealing the financial relationship between Minnesota police and Enbridge

• Talking to indigenous women (and Jane Fonda) about pipeline-related police harassment

• Tracking Enbridge’s public relations campaign in Minnesota newspapers

• Reflecting on Biden’s longstanding silence

Catch of the day: Reader Karen said Bonnie just finished a cooling swim, but she’s a dog made for the water. She’s a Lagotto Romagnolo—an Italian water dog and truffle hunting dog. And while she thinks getting wet is fun, she believes we need better public policies to deal with sea level rise.

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