by Bruce Walker
As gasoline prices soar and inflation seems poised to rise above 8%, Michiganders are squinting to detect any signs of economic hope on the horizon.
Among the variables drawing their attention is whether Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration is successful in closing the Line 5 pipeline across a five-mile stretch of the Straits of Mackinac. The Canadian energy company Enbridge is suing the governor to keep the pipeline open.
Whitmer’s administration is angling to move the case from federal court to state court, presumably to advantage Whitmer’s case. Enbridge argues jurisdiction over the case belongs on the federal level due to a 1977 international treaty between Canada and the United States. U.S. District Court Judge Janet Neff’s decision on that matter is due any day.
The U.S. Department of State and the Canadian government are in discussions over the pipeline.
Meanwhile, consumers are being hammered by gasoline prices rising above 2008 levels to more than $4 per gallon. A study released last week estimated the Midwest would be forced to endure an additional $5.9 billion jump in transportation costs over the course of five years if Line 5 is shuttered.
This estimated increase would be on top of another estimate by Yardeni Research, which asserts gasoline costs per household already have risen $2,000 per year. Additionally, Yardeni notes, national inflation has driven up household grocery bills by $1,000 annually.
“It is clear that a shut-down of Line 5 would only add to the current disruption of the energy market and would hurt small businesses and the hard-working families in Michigan and throughout the region, at a time when they can least afford it,” Enbridge spokesperson Ryan Duffy told The Center Square.
“All pieces of energy infrastructure are needed now more than ever,” Duffy continued. “An integrated North American energy network provides the affordable, reliable, sustainable, and secure energy that is needed across the continent.”
Jason Hayes, Environmental Policy director at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, said the governor’s request to suspend the federal gas tax in order to offer relief for Michigan consumers would not benefit the state as greatly as abandoning her efforts to shut down Line 5.
“In Michigan, Gov. Whitmer recently called on Congress to suspend the federal gas tax to help Michiganders deal with high energy costs,” Hayes told The Center Square. “Yet she has worked for the past two years to shut down Line 5, which supplies the state with essential heating and transportation fuels. It’s nonsensical to pretend that government can shut down energy supplies without impacting energy prices.”
Hayes added that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is not solely to blame for the spike in gasoline prices.
“President Biden has spent his first year in office working to limit domestic energy production and we’re seeing the highest energy prices in decades,” Hayes said. “When asked by media what he believes will happen with gas prices, he responds, ‘They’re going to go up! … Can’t do much right now. Russia is responsible.’ But a quick look back at gasoline prices show that they began rising immediately after he was elected and went from just over $2 to $3.50 before Putin attacked Ukraine.”
The Whitmer administration did not respond to a request from The Center Square for a comment.
– – –
Bruce Walker is a regional editor at The Center Square. He previously worked as editor at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s MichiganScience magazine and The Heartland Institute’s InfoTech & Telecom News.
Photo “Enbridge Pipeline” by Lawrence Welsh.
