The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday, Oct. 12, edition that a small group of climate activists on Tuesday forced the shutdown of five major pipelines carrying crude from Canada to the United States. The Globe's Jeff Lewis and Kelly Cryderman write that Climate Direct Action said its members worked in groups of two or three at pipeline sites in Washington, Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota on Tuesday morning. The recently formed group posted photos and video that purportedly show how the activists cut through security chains, closed valves and were eventually stopped by police at sites belonging to Enbridge, TransCanada, Kinder Morgan and Spectra Energy. Climate Direct Action said it closed down the pipelines in solidarity with anti-pipeline protests led by North and South Dakota's Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, but also took the "personal, direct action" to push the U.S. government to enact stricter measures on climate change. The group is calling for a total ban on new fossil fuel extraction, and an immediate end to oil sands and coal use. The moves mark a further escalation in the battle against Alberta's oil sands industry as it seeks wider access to global markets.