So, here's something Northern Gateway hasn't considered: dirigibles. A University of Manitoba prof is all over this for northern transport, and a scaled up version eliminates a lot of problems associated with a pipeline and tankers.
1. The Great Circle Route from Fort Mac to Shanghai is almost all over Alaska and Russia! No horrible Douglas Channel tanker disasters or Kalamazoo seepage catastrophes. There might be the odd plummeting bitumen anomaly, but most likely on somebody else's territory.
2. No processing would be required! The oil sands could be dug up and transferred directly to airships, and then China could do its usual magic at the other end and transmogrify oil sands into iPhones. It's like spinning oil into gold!
3. Canadian technology would be key. We just need airships on an industrial scale.
4. The First Nations could continue to gather berries or whatever!
