Less than 2 years ago I had no idea there was an oil pipeline running through (or even near) one of my favorite places on earth, the Great Lakes. Having grown up on the shores of Lake Michigan, I knew that I had to do anything I could to help inform other people who, like myself, probably didn’t know either.

So we did what anyone would do: dropped everything and spent the next year making a movie about it.

This isn’t an anti-oil documentary, or anti-Enbridge. It’s simply pro-Great Lakes. I think it’s really important to define that difference.

You don’t have to be an environmentalist to care about, and work to protect, a place that you love. So, from the beginning, we were really intentional about making a project that everyone in the area could relate to, get behind and take ownership in. From your Lefty-treehugging-granola-slamming-kayak-dads, to the far right, high-powered CEOs, to the blue-collar-working-class-coal-rollin’ kids I went to high school with. This is for everyone and it’s all of our responsibilities to protect the place we call home.


If we want to see the Great Lakes remain the pristine, fresh water oceans that they are, we have to start working towards a safer solution today.

Sign the petition, share the film, talk with your neighbors about it, write a letter to your congressman and if you live in Michigan, be ready to vote to decommission Line 5.

Check out more from Colin McCarthy on Vimeo.