Visit www.oilandwaterdontmix.com for complete rally details.

We are in the midst of organizing a defining moment in the protection of the Great Lakes and the transition toward a clean energy future.

MLUI and TC350, a dedicated group of local activists, are organizing “Oil & Water Don’t Mix: A Rally for the Great Lakes,” set for July 14 at the Bridge View Park in St. Ignace next to the Mackinac Bridge. It’s an incredible opportunity to raise awareness about climate change and the dangers posed by an oil pipeline that runs through the Mackinac Straits.

Learn more about the Enbridge pipeline in the National WIldlife Federation report, “Sunken Hazard.”

Enbridge Energy has been pumping oil through a pipeline under the straits for 60 years. Now they want to increase the pressure to pump even more–possibly including the most toxic and corrosive tar sands oil from Canada. You remember Enbridge, don’t you? One million gallons of tar sands oil gushed into the Kalamazoo River when an Enbridge pipeline ruptured. It was one of more than 800 Enbridge spills since 1999. 

We can’t let a similar disaster happen in our Great Lakes, but we need your help. 

First, join us at the rally, set for 12 p.m.-1:30 p.m. The more people in attendance, the greater the awareness of the threat. Talk to your friends and family about coming, too. MLUI and TC350 are organizing buses from the Traverse City area. Watch the rally website, www.oilandwaterdontmix.com, for bus details.

Second, please consider donating to help with the event’s costs. As with any good rally, it can be expensive to pull it all off–from logistics like renting a stage and sound equipment, to reducing the cost of bus rides for students. If you would like to help, visit our donation page at www.mlui.org/donate, and include “Rally” in the notes box.

This is an exciting moment–and it’s all about to unfold in three short weeks. This rally is gaining a lot of attention, and a number of other leading environmental organizations are joining with us to carry forward this fight– National Wildlife Federation, Michigan Environmental Council, Sierra Club, and others. Even Bill McKibben himself, one of the nation’s foremost environmentalists and co-founder of 350.org, will be at the rally.


The rally also will feature Beth Wallace, author of the NWF report, “Sunken Hazard,” which expertly presents the threat; a citizen’s group fighting the pet coke piles in Detroit; citizens affected by the Enbridge oil spill in Kalamazoo; and Great Lakes author Jerry Dennis.

It’s going to be a galvanizing opportunity for everyone concerned about the future of our Great Lakes. We hope you can join us.