Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was all jokes about Michigan’s severe winter weather while promoting her new book in Los Angeles on Monday, but for residents concerned about her efforts to shut down Enbridge’s Line 5 oil and gas line, it’s no laughing matter.

“Thank you Tim Meadows and Moss Theater @LiveTalks LA for having me last night,” Whitmer posted to X along with clip of her talk on Tuesday. “You all think 60 degrees is chilly, try surviving a Michigan winter.”

Thank you, Tim Meadows and Moss Theater @LiveTalksLA for having me last night.

You all think 60 degrees is chilly, try surviving a Michigan winter. pic.twitter.com/SEtQxCzVey

— Gretchen Whitmer (@truegretch) July 16, 2024

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“I took my oath office, three weeks later we had a polar vortex. Now you’re from Michigan, you know how cold it can get. But in a polar vortex – that’s the convergence of a number of systems – our temperature plummeted to negative 55 degrees windchill,” Whitmer told Meadows to gasps from the audience.

“L.A., L.A.,” Meadows said as the gasps turned to laughter. “They don’t even know. They don’t even know.”

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“I see people wearing fleeces in the summer when it’s 60 degrees,” the governor added with a laugh.

Back home, the threat of looming energy rate increases tied to Whitmer’s efforts to shut down the Canadian oil and gas line that carries 22 million gallons into the state each day is no joke.

Since taking office, the governor has worked in concert with Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel to attempt to end Enbridge’s easement for Line 5 through the Straits of Mackinaw, siding with climate change activists pushing to end reliance on all fossil fuels.

Despite state regulators repeatedly approving a new tunnel to protect Line 5 200 feet below the lakebed, the Whitmer administration has pursued all legal avenues to shut it down.

Enbridge has detailed the possible ramifications if that effort is successful, and it’s not good for folks in Michigan, Ohio and other states that rely on Line 5 for reliable energy during the harsh winters, particularly residents in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

If Line 5 were shut down, “Michigan would face a 756,000-US-gallons-a-day propane supply shortage, since there is no short-term alternatives for transporting (liquid natural gas) to market,” according to the analysis.

There’s also a potentially huge impact on the economy, both directly at regional refineries and through rising costs for transportation.

“A Line 5 shutdown would put Ohio refineries at risk. The closure of one of (two refineries in Toledo) could result in the loss of $5.4 billion in annual economic output to Ohio and southeast Michigan, and the loss of thousands of direct and contracted skilled trades jobs,” according to Enbridge.

“A Line 5 shutdown puts at least 15% of northwest Ohio’s fuel supply at risk, as well as more than half of the jet fuel supplies for the Detroit Metro Airport.”

Last month, a three-judge court of appeals panel remanded Nessel’s lawsuit against Enbridge to Ingham County’s 30^th Circuit Court to begin proceedings on the merits of shutting down what the AG describes as an “aging and dangerous oil pipeline.”

While the ruling is considered a big win by climate change activists cheering the lawsuit, Enbridge points to other pending litigation that could render the June ruling moot.

“Even though the Attorney General’s case has been remanded to Michigan state court, Enbridge remains confident that the dispute can be fully resolved by the pending summary judgement motions in Enbridge’s separate lawsuit in Enbridge v. Whitmer,” Enbridge spokesman Ryan Duffy wrote in an email to the Northern Express.

That case is currently before District Judge Robert J. Jonker, with Enbridge arguing the state lacks the authority to shut down Line 5 based on safety concerns about routing through the Great Lakes.

“If the federal district court rules in Enbridge’s favor on those motions,” Duffy wrote, “Enbridge is hopeful that those rulings will fully resolve the Attorney Generals’ action.”