The Canadian province of British Columbia has dealt a major blow to the extraction of carbon-intensive crude oil from Alberta’s tar sands. In a victory for environmental and indigenous activists, the B.C. government formally rejected the Enbridge corporation’s Northern Gateway pipeline project, which would have carried tar sands oil to Canada’s West Coast. The proposal had sparked protests for standing to cut through sensitive environmental areas and indigenous land. Announcing its rejection, B.C. officials cited a lack of evidence Enbridge could adequately respond to oil spills along the pipeline’s route. Canada’s federal government could still override B.C.'s decision, but that prospect appears unlikely given local opposition and the chance of a protracted legal dispute. The Northern Gateway has been seen as the main back-up option should President Obama reject another tar sands pipeline, the Keystone XL. In a statement, 350.org founder Bill McKibben called on the White House to follow B.C.'s lead, saying: “If [Obama] rejects the pipeline, then an awful lot of crude is going to stay in the ground where it belongs.”