Is Gov. Whitmer Already Breaking Her Latest Line 5 Promise?

As of early September, she’s leaning back into that position…or at least her words are. But her actions over the past eight years have not matched those words. Her administration failed multiple times to step up on defining moments to take action on Line 5. As we enter the last months of her administration, it’s worth examining: are her recent reversals on past positions representative of a real transformation, and what would it take to change her complicated legacy? 

How Did We Get Here?

Governor Whitmer’s administration started off on a promising note. Advocates and tribes, including the Michigan Climate Action Network (MiCAN), led the work in the early days to educate the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) on the Michigan Environmental Protection Act (MEPA), and the climate impacts of Line 5. 

In 2021, these efforts set the stage — culminating in this sign-on letter to the Chair of the MPSC Dan Scripps, which urged him to include evidence related to the environmental effects of climate change, reassured them that they have the authority to reach such a determination, and encouraged them to consider climate-related evidence when reviewing the pipeline proposal. As a result, climate advocates were successful in getting the MPSC on the record agreeing with them about this sign-on letter. 

Then in December of 2023, the MPSC first reviewed Enbridge’s proposal for a tunnel project in the Straits of Mackinac. At that time, advocates delivered over 3,875 comments to the agency, and packed a public hearing.

Thus, the MPSC’s 2023 approval was a surprise given both public opposition and Chair Dan Scripps’ public show of support in 2021. After spending two years on the review in which experts and advocates provided the GHG testimony and evidence needed, the MPSC still chose to ignore how this project poses a threat for a catastrophic oil spill in the Great Lakes, increases climate change impacts, and undermines Michigan’s clean energy transition goals.

MiCAN and the Environmental Law and Policy Center then appealed the decision to the Michigan Court of Appeals, where it was once again upheld. Then, MiCAN delivered an appeal letter, signed by 1,057 individuals and 49 organizations and businesses, to Whitmer – which was largely ignored. So in 2025, advocates and tribes took the issue to the Michigan Supreme Court. 

Whitmer is 0-1. 

Not Just a Court Case

Beyond the halls of the court—and running concurrently—was the EGLE wastewater discharge permit. The EGLE permit was first approved in October 2021, but this original permit expired because construction had not begun. Despite advocates delivering 5,847 comments to EGLE asking them to reject Enbridge’s tunnel wastewater NPDES permit – which would have introduced water-treatment chemical additives and tunnel-boring heavy machinery, metals, oil and grease into the Great Lakes watershed – this permit was reissued in July 2026.

Additionally, Whitmer approved other permits over the opposition of tribes and environmental groups, including a bottomlands and wetlands permit to conduct tunnel-building work, excavation, and associated construction activities within protected state wetlands and bottomlands.

However, the long-awaited wastewater permit was widely seen as a final test of Whitmer’s resolve to stand up to Enbridge. Unfortunately, she approved the permit, and people were not happy about it. Alongside clips posted on social media, dozens of frustrated comments have piled up: “I remember being so proud of Gretch. Now she’s just another liar,” and “What the hell happened to her?” The frustration even reached the Detroit Free Press, which published an August 2026 op-ed titled Gretchen Whitmer used to have a bold backbone. What happened?

Whitmer is 0-2.

The Historic MPSC Decision Enters The Chat

On July 31, the Michigan Supreme Court delivered a landmark pro-environmental ruling in case no. 168335 – where MiCAN was a litigant. The court ruled that state regulators took too narrow a view when reviewing the Line 5 tunnel project under the Michigan Environmental Protection Act, known as MEPA. This MPSC decision is not simply about one pipeline, but about how Michigan protects the Great Lakes. 

This was widely viewed as a win for ordinary Michiganders, and for the thousands of people who fought tirelessly for the Great Lakes. They have shown up to provide comment in three different agencies’ regulatory processes, and at multiple contested case proceedings, sharing obvious impacts of concern that were unfortunately treated as outside the scope of the decision making process.

Due to this ruling, pipelines, industrial developments, or other major infrastructure projects before state agencies will have to undergo a more comprehensive look at potential environmental impacts going forward. It strengthens and restores how MEPA must be applied. And when it comes to Line 5, they must now reflect the full scope of the economic, geological, cultural and environmental risks. 

The court’s decision will undoubtedly make MEPA a potential target in a future anti-environment legislature, and other future courts could reinterpret it further. But for today, tribes and climate advocates celebrate the legal advocacy and the grassroots pressure that got us here.

Whitmer’s September 9th Statement

In light of the Michigan Supreme Court decision, Whitmer released a statement condemning Enbridge’s proposed tunnel project and announcing her reconsideration of the EGLE permits. This is a big step, but it raises the question: is this a true change of heart, or just more of the same? 

As of the writing of this article, her administration is still upholding these Enbridge tunnel permits. Those permits violate the MEPA and the public trust doctrine, and they should not have initially been approved by her administration.

At this moment in Line 5’s history, we’ve reached the end of the road — decisions have to be made. The governor must either support an oil company’s bid to lock Michigan into the risk of a spill in our most pristine natural area, along with 27 million tons of greenhouse gases per year, or she must reject it.

At the end of September, organizations from across Michigan sent Whitmer this letter: Michigan Groups to Governor Whitmer: Turn Your Line 5 Words Into Action, which gives her administration three steps to take before her term ends: 1) file a state alternatives and transition analysis, 2) direct state agencies to support decommissioning Line 5, and 3) freeze spending by the Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority.  Whitmer has not yet responded to this letter, and she has not yet revoked the permits she approved. 

In late August 2026, State Rep. Betsy Coffia stood on the steps of the Michigan Legislature and called the Line 5 decision from Whitmer “a betrayal” — but added, “I believe in second chances,” urging Whitmer to do the right thing. The question is: will she seize on this moment for a second chance (or rather, a third chance)? It’s unfortunately easy to be skeptical.

Any state process to permanently move towards an orderly shutdown of Line 5 would need public comment and a lengthy timeline. Two of the four months between her announcement and the end of her term are already behind us. And it grows harder each day to imagine Whitmer is behind the scenes preparing a legal coup de grâce for the Line 5 tunnel.

So, will Governor Whitmer soon be 0-3? We’ll find out.

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To see a video version of the letter to Governor Whitmer referenced above, click here. Take action here to ensure that Whitmer revokes, instead of just reconsidering, these permits. 

In addition to the authors, this article was reviewed and edited by MiCAN contributing editors Andrew Sarpolis, MPA and Dr. Denise Keele, Ph.D.