Tar Sands Cronyism
In a New York Times op-ed by Bill McKibbens, he talks about the cronyism of the TransCanada tar sands play. He makes reference to e-mails, made available by the environmental group Friends of the Earth, that show the State Department working with lobbyists to advance the interests of TransCanada, the company trying to build the Keystone XL pipeline from the tar sands of Canada through the heartland of the United States to the refineries of Texas capable of refining this highly polluting form of crude oil.
McKibbens goes on about other evidence that show, even as the State Department was supposedly carrying out a neutral evaluation of the pipeline’s environmental impact, key players were undermining the process. And when the State Department picked a consulting firm to help carry out the environmental impact statement on the Keystone pipeline, it chose a company called Cardno Entrix that listed among its chief clients …TransCanada. It is no wonder that the final report that came out in late August, stated the pipeline would have “no significant impact” on the nearby land and water resources.
At local hearings along the pipeline route, Cardno Entrix again appeared front and center as the “facilitators” of those “public hearings.” Click here to read our earlier blog about the Austin hearing.
Click here to read the entire New York Times Op-ed by Bill McKibben.