October 31st, 2019

Back in March of this year, Attorney General Nessel issued an opinion stating that the Mackinac Straits Authority (hastily signed into law during the 2019 lame duck period) was unconstitutional on the grounds that the title of the bill did not match the scope of authority granted to the authority in the legislative text.  A bill’s legislative text is supposed to match its title so that lawmakers have a clear indication of what they are voting on. Public Act 359 was passed by the Legislature in order to provide Enbridge Enbridge certain legal assurances for the construction of their Line 5 tunnel project.

The Attorney General’s legal opinion prompted Governor Whitmer to order that Enbridge cease all construction on the tunnel, which in turn prompted Enbridge to file a lawsuit against Governor Whitmer.  Unfortunately, on October 31st, 2019 the Michigan Court of Claims granted a summary judgment, effectively reinstating the Mackinac Straits Authority by overturning the AG’s prior legal opinion. Both Governor Whitmer and Attorney General Nessel were swift in their decisions that the state of Michigan would appeal this ruling. Michigan LCV applauds this action to protect our Great Lakes from a catastrophic spill and mitigate air, water and climate pollution.