The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday, June 18, edition that Enbridge is offering an alternative to the national energy regulator's demand to have almost $1-billion in liability coverage set aside for the Northern Gateway project. The Globe's Kelly Cryderman writes that in final arguments for and against the controversial pipeline project, Enbridge executive John Carruthers has called for the creation of an industry-bankrolled fund that would help pay for cleanup in the case of "a catastrophic oil release" from a Canadian pipeline. He said an industry fund could be the best way to ensure pipeline operators have enough money to cover "a highly unlikely but higher-cost spill." With cleanup costs that can climb to hundreds of millions of dollars for large spills, rising insurance and liability costs are a growing issue. The environmental protection fund could help boost public confidence, Enbridge argues. "Rather than each company having excess funds sitting available in the case of a very low likelihood event -- which is an inefficient costly use of resources -- a national industry fund is one way of giving the public confidence the funds are available," said Mr. Carruthers.