Your letter will be delivered the following governors: Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.

The Dakota Access Pipeline currently transports over 500,000 barrels of oil per day from the Bakken shale oil fields in North Dakota, through South Dakota and Iowa, to an oil terminal in Illinois. Yet, Energy Transfer, the company behind the pipeline, wants to double its capacity via the construction and expansion of new pump stations within your state borders.

Since its operation began in 2017, DAPL has been spewing emissions equal to 30 coal-fired power plants each year. Doubling its carrying capacity would boost this number through the roof. And in a climate emergency, the last thing we need is new fossil fuel infrastructure.

In North Dakota, Tribal nations have publicly opposed DAPL, citing an increased threat of spills and contamination in Lake Oahe, less than a mile from the tribe's reservation. And in Iowa and Illinois, community groups have rallied against the proposed expansion, citing the threat of more frequent – and larger – disastrous leaks on hardworking farmers’ fields.

This proposed expansion would prioritize fuel company profits over the public interest. Given the severity of our climate crisis, the last thing we should be doing is expanding pipelines to ship dirty tar sands for export around the world.