The BC and Alberta premiers made a surprising announcement about moving tar sands oil between the two provinces Tuesday morning. While the Canadian media is all Rob Ford all the time right now, the Western premiers reached an agreement that makes Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Pipeline a real possibility.

They timed the announcement while the focus was on the Toronto mayor for a reason -- the premiers didn't want attention on this unpopular agreement that would destroy our climate and our habitat. Let’s speak out now and tell the premiers that we are paying attention and we do not want the Enbridge pipeline.

BC and Alberta premiers: Do not strike a deal on Enbridge's dirty pipeline.

This announcement is a complete surprise. After years of public outcry, the BC government submitted a reasoned argument to the National Energy Board on why Enbridge’s proposal should be rejected. Nothing has changed in the past months, Enbridge has not met the conditions in the submission -- but the premiers signed this secret pipeline agreement. Adding to the element of surprise, on Monday night, Alberta premier Alison Redford announced that there is still a lot of work to be done between the two provinces, yet on Tuesday morning, Redford and BC premier Christy Clark announced that they reached an agreement.

The approval of Enbridge's pipeline proposals would mean further tar sands development that would only enrich Big Oil. For the rest of us, all we will get is irreversible climate change -- leading climate scientists agree that further tar sands exploitation would mean game over for climate. The pipelines would also destroy key habitat for salmon, bears, and other wildlife. The Enbridge pipeline will cross 1,000 streams and rivers, into First Nations land and the Great Bear Rainforest, the last intact temperate rainforest in the world. And the pipeline will spill dirty tar sands oil in pristine habitats -- during 30 days this spring, we had 13 oil spills. Worst of all, once the pipelines reaches the coast, it would mean hundreds of supertankers a year carrying more crude than the Exxon Valdez through some of the trickiest marine routes in the world.

Tar sands pipelines are disaster waiting to happen. Public outcry has prevented tar sands pipelines like Keystone and Enbridge from being built. Let’s stand up again to make sure we stop BC and Alberta’s secret plans.

Alberta and BC: Do not approve the Enbridge pipeline. It does not meet any of the 5 conditions set out by BC.

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More Information:

Alberta, B.C. pipeline deal gives Northern Gateway new push: Enbridge CEO, Globe and Mail, 6 November 2013.