Minnesota oil pipeline fight highlights Democratic dilemmas

Photo: AP/Jim Mone, File
In this June 29, 2018, file photo, pipeline used to carry crude oil is shown at the Superior terminal of Enbridge Energy in Superior, Wis. The divisive fight over the future of a crude oil pipeline across Minnesota highlights the dilemmas for Democrats in a state that's expected to become a battleground in the 2020 presidential race. And that could spell opportunity for President Donald Trump, who came close to winning the historically red state in 2016.

Updated: September 08, 2019 11:32 PM

A divisive fight over a crude-oil pipeline across Minnesota is pinning Democratic presidential hopefuls between environmentalists and trade unions in the 2020 battleground state.

And that's testing those candidates' campaign promises to ease away from fossil fuels.

Progressive candidates Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have condemned a Canadian company's plan to replace and expand capacity of its old and deteriorating Line 3 pipeline. The line carries Canadian crude across the forests and wetlands of northern Minnesota into northern Wisconsin. Warren and Sanders are siding with environmentalists and tribal groups who have been trying to stop the project for years.

Other candidates have been largely silent, mindful that such projects are job creators for some of the working-class voters they may need to win the state in 2020.