Canadian Groups Call on Federal Government to Reject Pipelines as New U.S.-Led Campaign Calls for National Tar Sands Tanker Ban

SAINT JOHN, July 26, 2016 /CNW/ - A new report released today by the U.S.-based Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), in partnership with numerous Canadian and U.S. groups, shows the proposed Energy East pipeline would drive a 300 to 500 per cent increase in crude tankers down the Atlantic coast, from Saint John, New Brunswick to the U.S. Gulf Coast. These supertankers would pose an irresponsible risk to marine mammals like the endangered North Atlantic right whale, the Bay of Fundy's lucrative lobster fishery, and other iconic regions, like the Florida Keys.

"The federal government says tar sands oil doesn't belong in the Great Bear Rainforest or the North Coast of BC. The boreal forest of eastern Canada and places like the Bay of Fundy on the Atlantic coast are no different," said Keith Brooks, Campaigns Director at Environmental Defence.

NRDC, which was instrumental in the campaign to stop the Keystone XL pipeline, also announced today a new campaign calling for a moratorium on tankers carrying tar sands dilbit in U.S waters, which would apply to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Already, a petition to the White House has garnered more than 80,000 signatories.

For the full release please visit: http://environmentaldefence.ca/2016/07/26/release-energy-east-nrdc-report/

SOURCE Environmental Defence