Tar sands activists in Canada are celebrating a victory this week as the controversial ( and snappily titled) Northern Gateway Tar Sands Pipeline Approval Process was delayed until at least the end of 2013.
The pipeline plans that are currently under review would transport 525,000 barrels of crude oil a day – going from Alberta's tar sands oil fields, through waterways that play host to the threatened salmon population, temperate rainforests and coastal ecosystems to a port ready for waiting tankers to cross the Pacific ocean to Asia. First Nation activist groups have pledged to stop any pipeline construction on their land through mass civil disobedience. Through the use of the Ecological Internet (an Enterprise Wiki of internet based environmental portals and international Earth Advocacy networks) over the last few months has raised nearly a quarter of a million protest emails to the Northern Gateway joint review panel.