With the state Department of Commerce’s recent decision to challenge the certificate of need for Line 3 (again), I feel it’s necessary to remind people of the importance of this project.
Line 3 is the largest privately funded infrastructure project in Minnesota’s history.
At $2.6 billion, it is over twice what it cost to build U.S. Bank Stadium. Line 3 will bring billions of dollars of private money into our economy when taxpayers have already spent trillions to keep our economy afloat. The money spent building Line 3 will feed families, keep restaurants open and fill hotel rooms.
The Line 3 replacement is the most studied infrastructure project in the history of Minnesota, and Minnesota regulators have approved the project again and again because they trust the study that has been done.
In times as “uncertain” as these, any money that comes from the private sector is welcome, especially if it will bolster our economy. Not to mention the fact that Minnesota needs petroleum and will continue to need it in the future. Minnesota needs Line 3 and the state needs to stop stalling and get construction started.
