Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, soon to be coronated as the Democratic Party's official nominee for Vice President of the United States, has stirred enthusiasm amongst the climate movement. Since taking office in 2019, Walz signed into law a bill requiring utilities to provide 100 percent carbon-free energy by 2040 and aligned the state's climate change policies closely with those of another environmentally progressive state, California.
At the same time, Walz allowed an oil pipeline to be built under his watch — and that choice now is haunting him. Specifically, Line 3, an oil pipeline constructed by the Canadian multinational Embridge, primarily built in Minnesota, was fiercely opposed by both environmentalist groups and Indigenous groups. Many protestors were targeted by police, who were funded with millions funneled to them by Endbridge. A militarized police crackdown followed and hundreds of "water protectors" were arrested. Yet critics say Walz did nothing to stand in the way of its construction, which was completed in 2021. (Both the Harris campaign and the Walz office did not respond to Salon's request for comment.)
