CALGARY, Alta. - A small first nation group in Canada’s British Columbia has made a personal appeal to Alberta energy companies, China and other governments to oppose the proposed Northern Gateway crude pipeline. Northern Gateway is a proposed Enbridge Inc. pipeline that would export oilsands crude to Asia.
The 1,170-kilometer project would bring crude from Alberta to the northern B.C. coast, where it would be loaded onto very large crude carriers (VLCCs) for transport to Asian refiners.
The project offers oilsands producers an appealing alternative market to the United States, where climate change legislation has brought some uncertainty.
On some of the pristine, salmon-rich lands Gateway would cross - safely, Enbridge says - first nations are voicing growing concerns that the line will damage the environment and leave little in return.
One of those nations, the Wet'suwet'en, took to Calgary on Jan. 15 in hopes of persuading energy companies to boycott the project. About 140 km. of Gateway would be built on Wet'suwet'en traditional territory, and the group believes the environmental approval process for the pipeline will infringe on their constitutional rights, since it does not include a mandate to look into aboriginal rights and title.
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