Canada’s tar sands: bringing pipelines, tankers and climate disruption to an ecosystem near you
Enbridge’s Northern Gateway project invites the world’s largest supertankers and dirtiest oil to the unspoiled waters of coastal British Columbia. Similarly, Kinder Morgan’s Trans-Mountain pipeline expansion would dramatically raise the level of tanker traffic traversing through Vancouver, the Fraser estuary and the Gulf Islands. For more on Kinder Morgan proposal click here. Read below for a summary of Enbridge’s Northern Gateway proposal.
Northern Gateway raises serious ecological concerns at global, regional and local scales.
In addition to introducing the likelihood of devastating oil spills in a place that hosts some of world’s most ecologically valuable and unique ecosystems, Enbridge’s pipelines and tankers provide a key commercial outlet for tar sands oil, exacerbating the staggering impact from this massive industrial development and excelerating Canada’s notorious contribution to atmospheric carbon and climate change.
Take Action
1. Get informed
- Attend Raincoast slideshows on Northern Gateway
- Read Raincoast editorials and opinion pieces on Northern Gateway
- Read Raincoast’s flagship report with photos, maps and popular science What’s at Stake: The cost of oil on BC’s priceless coast
- Learn about Raincoast’s scientific research behind reports like What’s at Stake
2. Share information
- Post and share information about up coming events and other activities on our Facebook Group page. Also check out out Raincoast’s regular Facebook page.
- Keep tabs on our slideshows and talks here.
3. Speak out
- Write British Columbia Premier Christy Clark click here for draft letter and email or email the premier directly at premier [at] gov [dot] bc [dot] ca
- Write Letters to the Editor of Canadian newspapers:
- The Globe and Mail: Letters [at] globeandmail [dot] com
- Vancouver Sun: sunletters [at] vancouversun [dot] com
- Victoria Times Colonist: letters [at] timescolonist [dot] com
- Vancouver Province: provletters [at] theprovince [dot] com
- Calgary Herald: letters [at] calgaryherald [dot] com
- Edmonton Journal: letters [at] edmontonjournal [dot] com
4. Show up at the hearings
- The National Energy Board Hearings have now concluded. The NEB’s report will be submitted by Dec 2013.
- Hearings for formal intervenors, such as Raincoast, began in October 2012 and concluded in June 2013. See our submissions and cross examinations here.
Together, we can stop Enbridge
Saying “No” to Enbridge is saying “Yes” to:
- protection of water, air, and soil resources that provide food and energy to all life,
- healthy ecosystems that sustain wildlife, local communities and local economies
- protecting fish and wildlife resources that are critically important to Canadians for intrinsic, ecological, cultural and economic reasons,
- meeting our domestic energy needs through low carbon alternatives,
- reducing Canada’s contribution to global carbon emissions and climate change,
- rejecting corporate profit at the cost of public resource destruction.
You can help
Raincoast’s in-house scientists, collaborating graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and professors make us unique among conservation groups. We work with First Nations, academic institutions, government, and other NGOs to build support and inform decisions that protect aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and the wildlife that depend on them. We conduct ethically applied, process-oriented, and hypothesis-driven research that has immediate and relevant utility for conservation deliberations and the collective body of scientific knowledge.
We investigate to understand coastal species and processes. We inform by bringing science to decision-makers and communities. We inspire action to protect wildlife and wildlife habitats.
