Media coverage of the corrupt State Department review process

With the release of the second batch of documents, the filing of a lawsuit to stop illegal pipeline construction work in Nebraska and the expansion of our Freedom of Information Act request, there has been extensive media coverage of the pro-pipeline bias and oil industry complicity within the State Department. Coverage highlights can be found below.

November 16, 2011

Mother Jones: State Department: Any Nebraska-TransCanada Deal Still Requires Our Approval

There was some confusion on Tuesday after news from Nebraska indicated that the state and TransCanada had come to an agreement on rerouting the proposed Keystone XL pipeline around the environmentally sensitive sand hills region.

Some of the initial reporting made it sound like this meant that the pipeline was now a done deal; after some delay, it would probably go forward. This would have been a bit of a let down for enviros who were celebrating last week after the Obama administration announced that it would delay a final decision on the pipeline for further evaluation. But even if Nebraska and TransCanada agree on a new route, it still has to go through the State Department.

November 15, 2011

Mother Jones: Keystone XL Delay Shows Climate Change Is a Big Election Issue

Conventional wisdom has it that the next election will be fought exclusively on the topic of jobs. But President Obama's announcement last week that he would postpone a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline until after the 2012 election, which may effectively kill the project, makes it clear that other issues will weigh in—and that, oddly enough, one of them might even be climate change.

The pipeline decision was a true upset. Everyone—and I mean everyone who "knew" how these things work—seemed certain that the president would approve it. The National Journal runs a weekly poll of "energy insiders"—that is, all the key players in Washington. A month to the day before the Keystone XL postponement, this large cast of characters was "virtually unanimous" in guaranteeing that it would be approved by year's end.

New York Times Green blog: On Our Radar: Rerouting the Keystone XL Pipeline

TransCanada agrees to find a new route for the Keystone XL pipeline that will skirt the environmentally sensitive Sand Hills area and the Ogallala aquifer in Nebraska. Still, the project cannot move forward anytime soon; a State Department spokesman says the federal government’s own review “could conclude as early as” the first quarter of 2013.

November 14, 2011

Toronto Sun: Redford to sell Keystone in Washington

Premier Alison Redford is extending her visit to Washington slightly as a result of the U.S. State Department's decision to delay the $7 billion Keystone XL Pipeline project.

"The (itinerary) has been changing in light of what happened Thursday with the decision," said Jay O'Neill, head of communications for the premier's office.

Bloomberg: TransCanada to Change Keystone XL Route Through Nebraska

TransCanada Corp. (TRP) will move its $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline away from the state’s ecologically sensitive Sandhills region.

“The route will be changed, and Nebraskans will play an important role in determining the final route,” Alex Pourbaix, president for energy and oil pipelines, said in a statement today.

National Post (Canada): Alberta Premier backs off on Keystone XL, wants ‘sophisticated’ discussion

The hard sell on the Keystone XL pipeline didn’t work for Alberta. So the province is adopting a “more sophisticated” approach to its U.S. lobbying efforts that will stress its work on environmental stewardship and renewable energy, Premier Alison Redford said Monday.

Still stinging from the Obama administration’s decision last week to delay the $7-billion project until 2013, Redford said it’s clear Albertans are being hurt by the province’s image in the U.S. as the Texas of the north.

Huffington Post: Keystone XL: Despite Delay, Oil's Grip Remains Strong

When the State Department moved Thursday to postpone a decision on whether the Keystone XL oil pipeline serves the national interests of the United States -- a question it has been weighing in one form or another for more than three years -- environmental groups found much to celebrate.

But they also surely know that the dispute over Keystone XL -- a proxy, really, for broader and still unresolved debates over oil, climate change and energy policy in America -- is far from over, not least because the delay was much more about political expediency than it was about environmental due process. As much as anything else, delaying the decision until after the 2012 presidential election suggests that the United States is much farther away from a consensus on clean energy than anyone wants to admit. Given the global thirst for oil and the lack of clear policies that would begin to make carbon pollution a more expensive affair, it also seems certain that development of Canada's planet-warming oil patch will continue -- with Keystone XL or without it.

November 13, 2011

Omaha World-Herald: Support for pipeline routing bill

It's not impossible.

Backers of legislation to give the state authority over routing oil pipelines could well prevail in the current special session.

A World-Herald survey of lawmakers found that proponents of legislation outnumber opponents and are approaching a majority in the Nebraska Legislature.

Huffington Post: Keystone XL Pipeline: Canada Eyes Asia After U.S. Delays Project

Canada will try to sell more of its energy products to Asia after Washington delayed a decision on whether to approve the Keystone XL Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline project, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said.

"This does underscore the necessity of Canada making sure that we are able to access Asia markets for our energy products," Harper told reporters on Sunday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' meeting in Hawaii.

November 12, 2011

Lincoln Journal Star: Protests continue after Keystone XL delay

The federal government announced Thursday it would hold off on a final decision regarding the Keystone XL pipeline until after the 2012 election, allowing time to plot a course through Nebraska that doesn't go through the Sandhills or over the Ogallala Aquifer.

Count Tom Weis unimpressed.

Huffington Post: What Keystone's Supporters Get Wrong

The Wall Street Journal's editorial Friday on President Obama's decision to delay the Keystone XL pipeline contains bad data and omits pertinent information that hurts its argument.

Since policy decisions need to be based on facts and not rhetoric to be successful, let's go through these one by one.

November 11, 2011

Los Angeles Times: Keystone XL pipeline decision delayed until after 2012 election

The Obama administration put off until after the 2012 election a politically charged decision on whether to approve the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline, easing one problem for President Obama but opening another with the missed opportunity to boost job growth.

With the State Department announcement Thursday that it would study alternate routes for the $7-billion pipeline, the administration sought to calm the environmentalist movement that has mobilized against the proposal — no small matter for Obama given activists' threats that they might abandon his reelection campaign.

Financial Post: Keystone XL delay will cost TransCanada $1B: Analyst

The decision by the U.S. State Department on Thursday to explore alternate routes for the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline will cost TransCanada Corp. dearly, in both time and money.

Steven Paget, analyst with First Energy Capital, estimates the project is now delayed 18 months, certainly past the next U.S. presidential election, and will cost TransCanada another $1-billion in capital.

NRDC Switchboard (BLOG): With Keystone XL Pipeline Stalled, America Can Focus on Real Energy Solutions that Create Real Jobs

On Thursday the State Department and the President announced they will conduct a new review of the Keystone XL pipeline. More time is needed to examine the pipeline’s impact on water, our climate, our health and safety.  Congratulations Mr. President! As NRDC’s Frances Beinecke wrote on her blog yesterday, this is a major victory for clean energy and citizen action.

We’ll surely here shouts from the oil industry that this decision will hurt jobs.  They claim the pipeline could have created up to 20,000 temporary (that’s the key word) jobs. (The State Department says that number is more like 5,000 to 6,000 jobs.)  Let’s remember that either way, those figures pale by comparison to the number of jobs that have already been created by the clean car industry alone. More than 150,000 Americans are now working to build cleaner cars, thanks to strong new fuel economy standards.

November 10, 2011

St.Louis Post-Dispatch: Keystone XL pipeline may be rerouted

The State Department is considering a plan that would reroute the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada away from environmentally sensitive areas of Nebraska, an action that could delay a final decision on the project until after the 2012 election.

A U.S. official said Wednesday that rerouting the pipeline was a key issue that came up during public meetings this fall in the six states through which the pipeline would run. The official asked not to be identified because no decision has been made.

Huffington Post: Keystone XL Delayed, Feds To Explore New Routes

Federal officials postponed a crucial permitting decision for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline Thursday afternoon, issuing plans to consider a new route for the project. The pipeline was proposed by Calgary-based TransCanada to link a vast oil patch in Alberta to refineries in Texas. The additional review would not likely be concluded until the early months of 2013, Obama administration officials said, adding that they would, among other things, weigh the impacts of the pipeline on the global climate in making a final decision of whether it is in the national interest.

The delay pushes a decision on the contentious proposal well beyond the 2012 presidential election in November, allowing President Obama to avoid a politically fractious determination in the midst of his reelection bid.

Bloomberg: Enbridge’s Pipeline Threatens TransCanada’s Keystone XL Plan

Enbridge Inc. (ENB)’s plan for a pipeline to carry oil-sands crude from Canada to the Texas Coast may reduce TransCanada Corp. (TRP)’s chances of building its $7 billion Keystone XL line.

The U.S. State Department is weighing whether to ask TransCanada to seek a new route for its 1,661-mile (2,673- kilometer) pipeline that would avoid environmentally sensitive areas in Nebraska.

November 9, 2011

Washington Post: Proposed Keystone pipeline route may be reassessed

The Obama administration may reassess the proposed route for a major oil pipeline that would stretch from northern Canada to the Gulf Coast, according to sources familiar with the deliberations, a move that could delay the contentious permitting process for more than a year.

The State Department has identified a route that traverses six states — and runs above Nebraska’s Ogallala aquifer — as its “preferred alternative,” among more than a dozen possibilities. But opposition has mounted in Nebraska and elsewhere along that path. The Nebraska legislature is in special session to consider options for influencing the pipeline’s route.

Reuters: State Dept eyes rerouting Keystone XL pipeline

The State Department is considering rerouting TransCanada Corp.'s proposed $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline to avoid ecologically sensitive areas of Nebraska, a U.S. official said on Tuesday.

The State Department has been weighing issues raised in public meetings and talks with officials in six states that would be affected "including whether to consider a rerouting of the Keystone XL pipeline away from an environmentally delicate area of Nebraska," the official said.

FOX News: Obama Administration May Put Off Keystone Pipeline Decision With New Environmental Impact Study

A State Department decision on whether to reroute a TransCanadian pipeline could end up killing the $7 billion project altogether, an energy industry source warned Wednesday.

The source told Fox News that the Obama administration is considering much more than a simple reroute of the Keystone XL project. Instead, 11th hour deliberations are weighing whether to order the State Department to conduct an all-new Environmental Impact Study, which could delay a final decision by two years, well beyond the next presidential election, if not end it altogether.

CNN International: State Department evaluating options for controversial pipeline

The State Department is considering a variety of options on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, including an alternative route or even not granting permission for the pipeline to be built.

The department, as part of its "national determination period" of the review process, is considering all proposals that were made at public hearings held across the country, deputy spokesman Mark Toner told reporters Wednesday.

New York Times Green blog: Keystone XL’s Cousin Shuts Down Twice

The company proposing a controversial oil pipeline that would stretch from Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast had a related pipeline that it operates shut down over the last two days after the line suffered power problems.

The company, TransCanada, said that its Keystone pipeline, which runs from Alberta to Cushing, Okla., went down for three hours on Tuesday after a Canadian utility that powers the pipeline dealt with shortages. TransCanada voluntarily shut Keystone down a second time on Tuesday night to inspect equipment, but restarted it on Wednesday morning after finding nothing amiss.

November 8, 2011

FOX Business: TransCanada CEO: Keystone XL Customers May Move On If Project Delayed

TransCanada Corp. (TRP) Chief Executive Russ Girling said Tuesday that potential customers for the controversial Keystone XL Canadian oil pipeline may abandon the project if its approval is delayed further by the U.S. government.

Speaking on the sidelines of an economic speech by Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty in Calgary, Girling said that he wouldn't speculate on whether TransCanada would scrap the Keystone XL project if it's delayed, but added that it may lose customers at refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast if it's not completed as scheduled in 2013.

November 7, 2011

Washington Post: Canadian natural resource minister “cautiously optimistic” Keystone pipeline will be approved

Canada’s natural resources minister said Monday he is “cautiously optimistic” an oil pipeline from western Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast will win approval from the Obama administration, and affirmed a delay wouldn’t necessarily kill the project.

Natural Resource Minister Joe Oliver said in an interview Monday that he would prefer a decision this year but that Canada respects the regulatory process.

New York Times: Keystone XL Pipeline Decision to Be Investigated

The State Department’s inspector general will conduct a special investigation of the handling of the pending decision on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in response to reports of improper pressure on policy makers and possible conflicts of interest, according to documents released on Monday.

Harold W. Geisel, the senior official in the inspector general’s office, told top agency officials in a memorandum dated Friday that he would open the review “to determine to what extent the department and all other parties involved complied with federal laws and regulations” relating to the pipeline permit process.

Daily Kos: Breaking: Has Keystone XL hit a roadblock?

Today, the day after some 13,000 people surrounded the White House to call on President Obama to apply leadership in denying the Keystone XL pipeline application (excellent Inside Climate News article), Politico broke the news that the State Department's Inspector General will conduct an investigation into State's handling of the Keystone XL pipeline application. Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN-9), who has been a real leader on this issue, issued a press releasealong with State's memo to him.

Firedog Lake: No Real Job Creation from Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline

Justin Elliott follows up on my story about America’s Building Trades Unions and the oil industry co-opting the 99% movement in a push to pass the Keystone XL pipeline. The fact that 12,000 activists formed a human chain around the White House yesterday in a demonstration against the pipeline suggests that this co-opting isn’t gaining a ton of traction. Nevertheless, the radio and print ads in favor of “Jobs for the 99%” is particularly galling because of the participation of labor unions.

Business Insider: Attorney For Opponents Of Keystone XL Says Nebraska Would Win If Sued For Rerouting Pipeline

Nebraska's sovereign immunity would protect the state from costly lawsuits if officials diverted a crude oil pipeline away from the ecologically sensitive Sandhills, a leading project opponent said Monday.

Alan Peterson, an attorney for the Sierra Club's Nebraska Chapter, told lawmakers that even if the state waived its immunity to a lawsuit and lost, pipeline developers could not likely recover more than the cost of right-of-way easements obtained from landowners after their project received federal approval. 

Los Angeles Times: Boxer raises environmental concerns over Keystone XL pipeline

In a sign of hardening skepticism toward the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, a top Senate Democrat has sent a letter to the Obama administration asking about a possible conflict of interest between the pipeline operator and a company handling the environmental impact study of the project.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who chairs the Environment and Public Works Committee, wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton last week cautioning that the environmental studies must be impartial.

November 6, 2011

Los Angeles Times: Keystone pipeline decision could be delayed until after election

The Obama administration is considering a move that could delay a decision on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline by requiring sponsors to reduce the project's environmental risks before it can be approved, according to people with knowledge of the deliberations.

The step might put off a decision until after the 2012 election and be a way for the White House to at least temporarily avoid antagonizing either the unions that support the pipeline or the environmental activists who oppose it as President Obama gears up for his campaign.

The Hill: Environmentalists, like Obama, face political test on Keystone pipeline

Environmentalists battling the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline call the looming White House decision on the project a referendum on President Obama’s commitment to clean energy.

But the fate of TransCanada Corp.’s push to build the massive Alberta-to-Texas pipeline is also a crucial test of the green movement’s political clout.

Washington Post: Thousands protest outside White House over planned Keystone XL oil pipeline

Thousands of protesters gathered in Lafayette Square across from the White House on Sunday to oppose a plan for a transnational oil pipeline they fear could harm the environment.

At one point, the crowd linked hands to surround the White House, keeping up pressure on President Barack Obama as his administration decides whether to approve the massive Keystone XL project.

November 5, 2011

Washington Post: Keystone Pipeline debate heats up

Care2: TransCanada Admits It Lied About Keystone XL Jobs

Proponents of the Keystone XL–an oil pipeline that would cut a swath across dozens of rivers, streams, and America’s largest source of fresh water–claim that the number of domestic jobs created by the project offset its immense environmental risks.

But in a recent report by the Washington Post, the company behind the Keystone XL admitted that it intentionally inflated estimates of the number of American jobs the pipeline would create.

Omaha World-Herald: Pipeline hearings to be emotional

Expect lengthy and emotional testimony on Monday when the public and lobbyists get to weigh in on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.

The final schedule of public hearings on bills introduced during the special session of the Nebraska Legislature was released Friday after lawmakers met briefly at the State Capitol.

November 4, 2011

Grist: Keystone XL backers try to get OWS on their side

Climate leaders like Bill McKibben have visited Occupy Wall Street and put out the message that the movement should oppose the Keystone XL pipeline. But proponents of Keystone XL are also trying to use OWS to press their case. David Dayen caught this bit of politicking on a website called Jobs for the 99%.

ThinkProgress: Fact Check: Keystone XL Will Not Reduce Oil Imports From Middle East

The Keystone XL tar sands pipeline will not reduce dependence on imports from the Middle East, an analysis conducted for the Department of Energy revealed a year ago. The hope of getting away from oil from the volatile region is a favored talking point by proponents. “The Keystone project has the potential to significantly reduce oil imports from the Middle East,” Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY) has claimed. However, an analysis by Department of Energy contractor Ensys Energy in December 2010 found that the pipeline would have virtually no impact on Middle East imports

The Guardian: Q&A: Keystone XL oil pipeline

The Keystone XL project would expand an existing pipeline from the vast tar sands of Alberta to refineries in the US Midwest, nearly doubling the initial capacity and transporting crude oil deeper into America to refineries on the Gulf coast of Texas. Its proposed route would stretch about 1,660 miles, connecting Hardisty, Alberta to Port Arthur, Texas. It was first proposed in 2008, and was originally scheduled for completion in 2013.

November 3, 2011

Huffington Post: Keystone XL: Haste And Inexperience Hampered State Department's Environmental Review

Earlier this year, top officials with the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy and the Department of Justice hauled a handful of senior State Department officials into a White House meeting.

The gathering was the governmental equivalent of being called into the principal's office. The energy regulators wanted to know why State -- which had the power to approve a controversial oil pipeline project called Keystone XL -- hadn't demanded the completion of an important task: the evaluation of alternative pipeline routes between Canada and the Gulf Coast that would avoid the Nebraska sand hills, a hotbed of environmental concern and local outrage.

November 2, 2011

Washington Post: Pipeline developer says Keystone XL oil pipeline delays could cost company $1 million a day

A Canadian pipeline developer that wants to run an oil line through six states to Texas refineries would lose at least $1 million a day and suffer “substantial economic harm” if opponents delay or derail the project, a top executive said in response to a federal lawsuit.

Robert Jones, a TransCanada vice president who is overseeing the hotly contested Keystone XL pipeline project, said in a sworn statement that delays would saddle the company with unavoidable expenses — such as for pre-ordered construction equipment — and damage its relationship with shippers.

Care2: Oil Spills Expected If Keystone XL Pipeline Is Approved

In late August, the U.S. State Department issued an official statement which claimed the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline posed no significant threat to the environment or human health.

The Keystone XL is a 1,711-mile pipeline that will transport crude oil from the Canadian tar sands across the Great Plains to refineries on the Gulf Coast. In its final environmental impact statement (EIS) the State Department admitted that “throughout its life cycle, oil sands crude is, on average, more greenhouse gas intensive than the crude oil it would replace in the U.S,” but said that the pipeline’s owner, TransCanada, had reduced the risks of an accident to an acceptable level.

November 1, 2011

Politico: Obama: I'll make the call on Keystone XL project

President Barack Obama indicated Tuesday he’ll be making the final call on the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline that would run from Alberta to Texas.

In an interview with Omaha, Neb., station KETV, Obama said the State Department — which was expected to make the decision on the pipeline — will instead deliver recommendations to the White House on the proposal.

Huffington Post: Obama: Keystone XL Pipeline Decision Will Be Made With Health, Economic Factors Taken Into Account

President Barack Obama said Tuesday health and economic factors would be taken into account when he decides whether to approve TransCanada Corp's Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL pipeline proposal.

Speaking in a television interview, Obama said the State Department would give him a report on the issue "over the next several months."

ThinkProgress: Press Secretary Tries To Walk Back Obama’s Responsibility For Keystone XL Decision

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney tried yesterday to pass the buck on the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, telling reporters the decision to approve the dangerous fossil project “will be made by the State Department“

InsideClimate News: Public Comments on Keystone Pipeline Have Disappeared into a Procedural Black Hole

Five weeks ago, Cindy Myers stood in a high school gymnasium before a crowd of 1,000 and said, "These words could be some of the most important of my life."

Myers was speaking at the Keystone XL oil pipeline hearing in Atkinson, Neb., but her statement could have applied to any of the thousands of people who attended hearings in five other states. Many took a day off work to get in line early; others drove for hours to reach the meetings or spent weeks polishing their testimony. They spoke with passion about jobs and energy security, their fears of water contamination and the risk of an oil spill.

The Guardian: Keystone XL pipeline debate moves to Nebraska as final decision looms

The state of Nebraska will open a special session of the legislature on Tuesday afternoon in a last-gasp effort to stop or re-route the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project.

The pipeline, meant to carry crude from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, to the refineries of Texas, has become a political liability for Barack Obama. He's been heckled during party fundraisers, and faces a big demonstration at the White House on 6 November.

October 31, 2011

San Francisco Chronicle: Keystone pipeline protest heading to White House

The crowd of wealthy Democratic fundraisers and donors who protested outside President Obama's $5,000-a-head San Francisco fundraiser last week - dubbed the "powerful and the POd" - aren't going away.

This week, they're planning a high-profile reprise at the White House to again deliver a loud message on an environmental issue that could become a major political liability for Obama in the 2012 election: the proposed construction of Keystone XL, the controversial $7 billion, 1,700-mile pipeline that would carry crude oil from Alberta, Canada, to refineries in Texas.

Tar Sands Action: Industry Sources Admit Keystone XL Key to Tar Sands Development

Yesterday we got some of the strongest confirmation yet that efforts to stop the Keystone XL pipeline are having a long-term impact on the tar sands industry. It’s clearer than ever that President Obama’s decision on the  pipeline will have a critical impact on the development of the tar sands in Alberta – potentially leading to “stranded oil sands” long term.

Canada’s Financial Post – the premier business magazine of Canada – published an article detailing how the escalating pressure to stop Keystone XL is causing investors in the tar sands to reconsider their long term plans for exploiting the world’s second largest pool of carbon. Organizing by environmental justice advocates across the country has put the Keystone XL pipeline in question, which in turn has revealed just how important the pipeline would be to the development of the tar sands industry.

Firedoglake: Keystone XL Pipeline Flashpoint: Nebraska

Bill McKibben appeared yesterday in Los Angeles at the LA Green Festival, where he again announced some actions for next week around the Keystone XL pipeline. Activists will surround the White House on November 6, one year before the 2012 Presidential elections. “You can’t occupy the White House, but we can surround,” McKibben said. Additional actions will take place around the country and around the world (including at the US Embassy in London) opposing the “1,700-mile fuse to the biggest carbon bomb on the planet,” in McKibben’s words.

The Colorado Independent: The Wizards of Oil: How the Koch brothers influence environmental politics

The nation’s second largest private company and its subsidiaries are also in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Texas and just about every other state in the nation. But the locale where Koch Industries is making its presence felt the most isn’t a state at all. It’s Washington, D.C.

The Wichita-based conglomerate has spent a fortune lobbying for its oil, gas, mineral and chemical interests this past decade while bankrolling the campaigns of sympathetic congressmen. It has paid special attention to lawmakers that make up the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Koch Industries is diversified — it manufactures household staples such as Angel Soft toilet paper, Brawny paper towels, Dixie cups, Lycra fabrics and Stainmaster carpets — but its main investment is in oil.

October 30, 2011

New York Times: Nebraska Seeks a Say on the Route of a Pipeline

With a federal decision anticipated soon on whether an oil pipeline will be allowed to run from Canada through the nation’s midsection, lawmakers in Nebraska are being summoned on Tuesday to an unexpected legislative session over the issue, which has stirred up a level of rancor that few had predicted.

“The public outcry has just continued to get louder and louder, stronger and stronger,” said Annette Dubas, a state senator who is among those who want to consider how Nebraska might regulate such projects, but who seemed as surprised as anyone last week when Gov. Dave Heineman, a Republican, called legislators in to a special session on the issue.

DeSmog Blog: Opposition to Keystone XL Pipeline Heating Up

The fight against the Keystone XL Pipeline is heating up, with many positive and important developments occuring this past week, excluding the disgraceful, though unsurprising decision by the Obama for President 2012 campaign team to bring a former TransCanada lobbyist, Broderick Johnson (husband of NPR's Michele Norris), onto its upper-level staff.

Omaha World Herald: Pipeline session looks to Montana

Up in Montana three years ago, state regulators ordered a major rerouting of a $260 million, high-voltage electrical transmission line so farmers wouldn't have to dodge power poles as they cultivated their crops.

The state-ordered detours for the proposed Alberta-Montana Tie Line have caused at least a one-year delay in the project and added 10 miles to the line and $10 million in costs.

October 28, 2011

Bloomberg BusinessWeek: Environmental Groups Seek Probe of Keystone XL Pipeline Review

U.S. environmental groups called on the State Department’s inspector general to investigate what they called “illegality and/or abuse of authority” in the department’s review of TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL pipeline.

The proposed $7 billion pipeline would deliver crude from the oil sands of Canada to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast. The State Department, which has jurisdiction because the project would cross an international boundary, plans to decide whether to grant approval by the end of the year.

Lincoln Journal-Star: Keystone XL critic suggests corridor alternative

One way for Nebraska lawmakers to approach the task of siting petroleum pipelines would be to identify a 100-mile-wide corridor that pipeline builders would have to follow, Omaha attorney Brian Jorde said in Lincoln on Thursday.

"These are the types of things that are available for discussion," Jorde said in response to questions at a news conference in the Capitol Rotunda.

ThinkProgress:Promoting Tar Sands Myths, CNN’s Steve Hargreaves Bets Keystone XL Pipeline Will Be Approved

After months and even years of grassroots protests against the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, national media are starting to take notice. CNN’s Randi Kaye featured the controversial pipeline as an “undercovered” story, in a segment with CNNMoney.com’s Steve Hargreaves. Hargreaves portrayed the battle over the foreign pipeline as one of “hopes for the economy” versus “fears for the environment.” Tar sands crude is “a little bit dirtier” than conventional oil, Hargreaves conceded, but he said that the economic benefits of building a pipeline to pump tar sands crude from Canada to Texas refineries will win out.

CNN.com: Green donors warn Obama: 'Do the right thing' on Keystone pipeline

They're rich, powerful and P.O.'d.

One of them is BFF with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

And they're putting President Obama on notice: stop the Keystone XL oil pipeline or else. Or else what? Well it depends on who you ask.

October 27, 2011

The Hill: EPA chief: Keystone pipeline comments almost done, Obama ‘very aware’ of greens’ concerns

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said Thursday that her agency is about to weigh in on the State Department’s environmental analysis of the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline.

The upcoming comments on State’s August environmental impact statement – which gave the pipeline a favorable review – will be closely watched as the Obama administration decision on whether to permit the project looms. EPA has criticized past State analysis.

October 26, 2011

New York Times Green Blog: Lawmakers Seek Inquiry on Keystone XL Process

Lawmakers have called on the State Department’s inspector general to investigate the department’s handling of a crucial environmental study on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline and urged President Obama to delay a decision on the project until the report is completed.

In a letter sent on Wednesday to Harold W. Geisel, the State Department’s deputy inspector general, 14 members of Congress asked the department to look into the relationship between the pipeline company, TransCanada, and the firm that conducted the study.

Reuters: Lawmakers ask Obama to delay Keystone decision

Fourteen lawmakers called on President Barack Obama to delay a decision on the Canada-to-Texas Keystone oil sands pipeline, while Obama was interrupted in Denver on Wednesday by a protester opposing TransCanada Corp's project.

Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who is one of the Senate's most liberal members, and Democratic Representative Steve Cohen were joined by 12 other congressional Democrats in asking for a delay until the State Department investigates alleged conflicts of interest over the project.

Huffington Post: Keystone XL Pipeline: Obama Says His Administration Has Made No Decision On Project

President Barack Obama said Wednesday his administration has made no decision on whether a Canadian company can proceed with plans for a transnational oil pipeline to Texas.

A protester during Obama's appearance at the University of Colorado Denver yelled out that the president should say no to the contested Keystone XL project.

Omaha World-Herald: Pipeline routing law called doable

A prominent attorney advising Nebraska state senators said Tuesday that legislators can craft a law that influences routing of crude-oil pipelines without risking an expensive legal defeat.

The legal analysis, from Alan Peterson, a Lincoln attorney with experience in environmental regulatory issues, is sure to provide ammunition for senators seeking legislation to reroute the controversial Keystone XL pipeline around Nebraska's ecologically sensitive Sand Hills.

October 25, 2011

Politico: On Keystone XL Pipeline, Democrats slow to probe

Critics of the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline think they’ve uncovered a conflict-of-interest scandal that will shake the halls of Congress.

They just can’t get top Senate Democrats to help them do it.

Environmental groups opposing the $7 billion, 1,700-mile pipeline sending crude from Alberta oil sands to Texas have uncovered evidence they say shows the State Department has already made up its mind, such as internal emails showing a cozy relationship between a TransCanada lobbyist and former Hillary Clinton campaign aide with a department official working on the project.

October 24, 2011

KETV News: Heineman Calls Special Session To Address Pipeline

Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman says he'll call a special legislative session for lawmakers to consider challenging the planned route of a massive transnational oil pipeline.

The Republican governor's Monday decision means Nebraska doesn't intend to just leave the matter to the federal government, which is expected to decide whether to approve the $7 billion Keystone XL Pipeline project by year's end.

"This is a decision I made. It's time to move forward. TransCanada knows exactly where I stand," Heineman said.

Politico: Greens: Obama campaign hire 'stinks'

Environmentalists are unhappy with President Barack Obama’s presidential campaign for hiring a former lobbyist for the Keystone XL pipeline as a senior adviser.

Broderick Johnson, a Washington lawyer and lobbyist, is joining the campaign as a senior adviser and member of the senior staff.

ABC News: Nebraska Lawmakers to Consider Pipeline Challenge

Nebraska's governor said Monday that he'll call a special legislative session for lawmakers to consider challenging the planned route of a massive transnational oil pipeline.

Republican Gov. Dave Heineman's decision means Nebraska, where the $7 billion Keystone XL Pipeline project has faced some of its greatest resistance, doesn't want to just leave the matter to the federal government. The State Department, which has authority over the pipeline because it would cross the U.S. border, is expected to decide whether to approve a permit for the project by year's end.

The Hill: New Obama campaign adviser lobbied for Keystone pipeline

President Obama’s new senior campaign adviser lobbied late last year for TransCanada Corp., the company seeking to build the controversial Keystone XL oil sands pipeline — a relationship that’s feeding environmentalists’ claims that the White House is too close to the project's developer.

Lobbying records show that Broderick Johnson lobbied in favor of the pipeline, which remains under administration review, during the fourth quarter of 2010 while he was with the firm Bryan Cave.

October 21, 2011

Politico: Harry Reid: Renewables 'wiser' than Keystone

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has told Secretary of State Hillary Clinton he has “serious concern” about TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

Reid — in an Oct. 5 letter to Clinton first reported on by The Washington Post — weighs in on the pipeline project for the first time and gives critics more ammunition from Capitol Hill in their battle to get the State Department to deny a permit for the project.

York (Neb.) News-Times: TransCanada 1, Nebraska 0. Game over?

There you have it. Checkmate. Hasta la vista baby!

It's practically official. Nebraska quits and plays dead before the game is over. TransCanada 1, Nebraska 0. Game over!

It seems the big bad foreign-owned corporation TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline folks scared the little ol' Nebraska State Legislature by threatening a lawsuit if we don't stop pestering this oil transportation company who wants to slice us open from stem to stern so they can pump hot pressurized DilBit tar-sand oil over our precious Ogallala Aquifer.

Lincoln Journal-Star: Time to take names on pipeline

While legislative leaders slumbered at the switch, TransCanada openly began preliminary work to bury a pipeline across Nebraska's Sandhills.

Belatedly, those leaders stirred themselves into a brief spasm of activity this month that resulted in promises of more protection from TransCanada.

That's not enough.

October 20, 2011

The Hill: OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Senators weigh Keystone pipeline strategy

Senators battling the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline are mulling their options as the Obama administration’s decision on the controversial project looms.

Critics of the proposed $7 billion, 1,700-mile pipeline say the State Department’s favorable environmental analysis was flawed, and that the review lacked integrity because it was performed by a company with financial ties to pipeline developer TransCanada.

October 19, 2011

The Washington Post:Democratic lawmakers pressure Obama administration on both sides of Keystone pipeline issue

Reuters: UPDATE 2-Nebraska backs away from Keystone XL route law

Legislation proposed in Nebraska to force TransCanada Corp to move the route of its $7 billion Keystone XL oil pipeline would not likely hold up in court, so lawmakers should scrap plans for a special session to pass it, the state's top senator said on Wednesday.

That assessment appears to end one worry for TransCanada, which has said it is too late in the federal approval process to move the proposed right-of-way for the controversial pipeline to Texas from the oil sands of northern Alberta.

Politico: Sanders, State Dept. meeting on pipeline allegations

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is meeting with the State Department on Wednesday amid conflict of interest allegations regarding the department’s environmental review of TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

The concerns arose from a New York Times article on the department’s selection of Cardno Entrix to handle the environmental review of the pipeline. Cardno Entrix has listed TransCanada as a “major client,” the Times reported.

ThinkProgress: Koch’s Keystone XL Connection

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) has renewed his request that the House Committee on Energy and Commerce investigate the role of Koch Industries in the Keystone XL pipeline. “When I first raised this issue in May, representatives from Koch denied any interest in the pipeline and Chairman Upton called the idea that there could be a link between Koch and the pipeline an ‘outrageous accusation’ and a ‘blatant political sideshow,’” Waxman wrote in his letter. “Recently, however, I have become aware of evidence that appears to contradict the assertions of the Koch representatives and Chairman Upton.”

Inside Climate News: EPA to Weigh In on State Dept's Contentious Keystone Review Any Day Now

Any day now, the EPA will be weighing in with an analysis of the State Department's final environmental evaluation of the controversial oil sands Keystone XL pipeline.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson said Friday that authorities from her agency's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance will be responding to the document, which was released Aug. 26, within "the next week or so."

Salon.com: Hillary’s legacy rests on fixing tainted pipeline approval process

Hillary Clinton is one of those people who never really got a fair shake — she had to endure her husband’s philandering and the right-wing’s endless hatred, down to the scurrilous suggestion that she had something to do with the death of her friend Vince Foster. So it’s been a pleasure to watch her accomplished second act — pretty much everyone has had to admit that she’s been a creditable secretary of state; she spent yesterday in Tripoli where rebels-turned-rulers fired guns in her honor. Last year, a Gallup poll found she was the most admired woman in the United States.

That’s why it’s particularly painful to see her nearing the end of her career as our top diplomat with a scandal looming. It’s not too late for her to nip it in the bud, and if she doesn’t President Obama can still put a stop to it, as well. But right now, it threatens to tarnish her legacy.

ThinkProgress: October 19 News: 36 Lawmakers Berate State Dept, Calling it a “Cheerleader” For Keystone XL Pipeline

With a decision expected by the end of the year from the Obama administration on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, members of Congress have sent two letters to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton raising concerns over the State Department’s handling of a critical environmental review of the project.

A letter sent late last week by Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon and two Vermont senators, Patrick Leahy and Bernard Sanders, criticized the State Department for assigning the review of Keystone XL to a consulting firm with financial ties to the pipeline’s operator and urged the federal government to start the process all over again.

Echo Press: Coalition of lawmakers support Keystone XL pipeline project

A bipartisan coalition of Minnesota state senators recently sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The letter outlines the lawmakers’ support for the permit approval for the TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline project, which will increase the availability of crude oil from Canada’s oil sands to U.S. refineries.

October 18, 2011

The New York Times: Eminent Domain Fight Has a Canadian Twist

A Canadian company has been threatening to confiscate private land from South Dakota to the Gulf of Mexico, and is already suing many who have refused to allow the Keystone XL pipeline on their property even though the controversial project has yet to receive federal approval.

Randy Thompson, a cattle buyer in Nebraska, was informed that if he did not grant pipeline access to 80 of the 400 acres left to him by his mother along the Platte River, “Keystone will use eminent domain to acquire the easement.” Sue Kelso and her large extended family in Oklahoma were sued in the local district court by TransCanada, the pipeline company, after she and her siblings refused to allow the pipeline to cross their pasture.

Bloomberg Businessweek: New safeguards proposed for Keystone XL in Neb.

A pipeline operator that wants to run a controversial oil line from Canada to Texas offered new safeguards Tuesday it said would limit the effect of a potential spill in Nebraska.

But a TransCanada executive maintained that the company cannot move its proposed route through the Nebraska Sandhills, despite opposition from environmentalists, some lawmakers and landowners, and the governor.

Omaha World-Herald: Gov., State Dept. discuss pipeline

Gov. Heineman met again Tuesday with U.S. State Department officials in hopes of getting clear answers to legal questions surrounding Nebraska's authority to regulate crude-oil pipelines.

Heineman has questioned whether the state has the power to change the route of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline so it bypasses the fragile Sand Hills region.

TreeHugger.com: Opposition to Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline Continues to Grow

Susan Luebbe's testimony at last week's State Department hearing on TransCanada's proposed Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline was very moving. We'd already heard from college students, a union representative, environmental organization leaders (including me), and more - but to hear testimony from a land-owner in the path of this destructive and dangerous pipeline was eye-opening to those in attendance.

This pipeline would cross nearly 2,000 miles to pump Canadian tar sands oil - called bitumen - across six U.S. states to refineries in Texas. As Susan notes, thousands of miles of fragile ecosystems and resources lie in the pipeline's path, including the Ogallala aquifer, which provides drinking water to more than two million Americans.The State Department's study on the pipeline is flawed and inadequate, and the whole project should be rejected.

October 17, 2011

The New York Times: Stop the Keystone XL (VIDEO)

Robert Redford urges President Obama to oppose the Keystone XL pipeline, which would deliver crude oil from Canada through the American heartland to refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas.

Engineering News-Record: Cardno Entrix Pipeline Review Contract Raises Sticky Ethics Issues for Engineers

Even if it met the minimum standard for ethical conduct, the State Dept.'s environmental consultant for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project, Cardno Entrix, should have refrained from taking the job in order to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest, says an expert on engineering ethics and environmental work.

“It's got to be above suspicion of doing something sneaky,” says Aarne Vesilind, former professor of engineering at Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pa., and the author of books on engineering ethics.

Al Jazeera English: The Pipeline of "Poison"

Deb Miller lives less than 30 metres from the Kalamazoo River in central Michigan, site of one of the largest inland tar sands oil disasters in US history.

In July 2010, nearly four million litres of toxic tar sands crude oil gushed into the river following the rupture of the Lakehead Pipeline 6B belonging to Enbridge Energy Partners, a Canadian oil and gas transportation company.

October 16, 2011

Omaha World-Herald: Pipeline warning dismissed

When a university professor with expertise in hazardous waste sounds alarms about a proposed oil pipeline in Nebraska, the federal agency overseeing the project should pay attention.

That's the view of State Sen. Ken Haar of Malcolm, who questions whether the U.S. State Department has ignored a warning that the Keystone XL pipeline could pollute Nebraska groundwater much worse than predicted.

October 14, 2011

Inside Climate News: Enviros Make Keystone XL a Litmus Test for Obama's Re-Election: Will it Work?

To hard-core environmentalists, the Obama administration's upcoming decision on the fiercely debated Keystone XL oil sands pipeline is black and white. Say no to the Canada-to-Gulf Coast pipeline, they insist, or they won't support Obama's re-election bid.

But judging the president's performance through such a narrow prism could backfire and make these pipeline hardliners politically irrelevant, analysts say, especially when the economy is tanking.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Slippery pipeline: The Keystone XL project deserves closer scrutiny

Reuters: Lawmakers say pipeline approval process tainted

U.S. lawmakers will urge Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday to reject the proposed route of the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline, saying they are concerned the approval process has been tainted by alleged conflicts of interest.

Representative Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat, will send a letter to Clinton, signed by more than 20 other lawmakers in the House, criticizing how her department has handled the review of TransCanada Corp's $7 billion pipeline proposal to move crude to Texas from Alberta, Canada.

PriceofOil.org: Financial Times: Tar Sands a “PR Nightmare”

Canada’s dirty tar sands oil reserves have been turned “into a public-relations nightmare” argues the Financial Times today in its eight page pull-out on Canadian energy, forcing the industry to fight back against this “toxic perception”.

Part of this nightmare for both the industry and now President Obama is to do with the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which has become a litmus test for the Obama Administration.

October 12, 2011

The Nation: Solyndra and Keystone: Not All Environmental Scandals Are Created Equal

This unseasonably warm and unexpectedly lively autumn, the Obama administration finds itself embroiled in two environmental scandals. One, involving run-of-the-mill cronyism and bureaucratic ineptitude, we’ve been hearing about endlessly. The other, in which cronyism on a grand scale is imperiling the planet, is being swept under the rug.

October 11, 2011

The Associated Press: AP Interview: Clinton vows fair review on pipeline

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday she has "no reason to believe" that the State Department is biased in favor of a Canadian company's plan to build a massive oil pipeline from western Canada to the Gulf Coast, as some critics charge.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Clinton said a decision on the $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline will be fair and based on years of work by numerous government agencies.

Winnipeg Free Press: U.S. officials reviewing Keystone XL pipeline 'open-minded': Clinton

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says her department does not have a pro-pipeline bias as it determines whether to give the green light to TransCanada's proposed Keystone XL project.

"I have no reason to believe" that State Department officials are in favour of the pipeline, Clinton said in an editorial roundtable at The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Omaha World-Herald: TransCanada not budging on route

The speaker of the Nebraska Legislature will return to the lawbooks to consider the state's options after the developer of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline on Tuesday again delivered an emphatic “no” to pleas to reroute the project.

TransCanada Inc. officials said, however, that they would consider additional safety measures for the pipeline, which would carry partially refined crude oil from Canada's oil sands area through the groundwater-rich Sand Hills of Nebraska, on the way to the Gulf of Mexico.

National Journal: Obama Himself Could Render Keystone XL Pipeline Decision

The fate of a controversial oil sands pipeline could fall directly at President Obama’s doorstep.

Under federal law, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton currently has the responsibility of deciding whether to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, which if approved would send 700,000 barrels of carbon-heavy oil sands a day from Alberta, Canada, to refineries in Texas. But if the project doesn’t receive unanimous support from eight other federal agencies, the president must issue the decision.

October 10, 2011

CSPAN: US-Canada Pipeline

Cindy Schild and Damon Moglen talked about the proposed U.S.-Canada pipeline, and they responded to telephone calls and electronic communications. The State Department, which has jurisdiction over the project, has held numerous public meetings in states that would be affected by the 1700-mile oil pipeline stretching from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Topics included the pipeline's impact on jobs, the economy, and the environment.

FOX News: Debate over Keystone XL Pipeline (VIDEO)

PBS News Hour: Environment, Economy at Heart of Keystone XL Pipeline Debate (VIDEO)

A Canadian company wants to build a $13 billion, 1,700-mile pipeline to carry crude oil from the so-called tar sands region in Alberta through six states and a major aquifer to Texas for refining. Correspondent Tom Bearden reports from Nebraska on the high-stakes environmental and economic battle over the Keystone XL project.

October 9, 2011

CNN: Keystone Pipeline fight (VIDEO)

CNN's Jill Dougherty reports on the pipeline controversy that has included Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

October 8, 2011

The New York Times: Pipeline Review Is Faced With Question of Conflict

The State Department assigned an important environmental impact study of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline to a company with financial ties to the pipeline operator, flouting the intent of a federal law meant to ensure an impartial environmental analysis of major projects.

The department allowed TransCanada, the company seeking permission to build the 1,700-mile pipeline from the oil sands of northern Alberta to the Gulf Coast in Texas, to solicit and screen bids for the environmental study. At TransCanada’s recommendation, the department hired Cardno Entrix, an environmental contractor based in Houston, even though it had previously worked on projects with TransCanada and describes the pipeline company as a “major client” in its marketing materials.

October 7, 2011

The Washington Post: Keystone XL pipeline becomes a political headache for White House

McClatchy Newspapers: Controversial decision awaits as hearings on oil sands pipeline ends

Aberdeen, S. D. —A Canadian company that is waiting for a federal permit to build an oil pipeline through the High Plains has used a technicality in U.S. environmental regulations to begin removing an endangered species—the black and orange American burying beetle—from the proposed route.

A spokesman for Alberta-based TransCanada said the company has done nothing wrong. The beetles were removed as part of TransCanada’s “commitment to protecting the environment and endangered species along the Keystone XL route,” Shawn Howard told InsideClimate News. According to Howard, the beetle is the only endangered species identified along the pipeline’s proposed route from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

ThinkProgress: VIDEO: People-Powered Testimony Against Keystone XL Tar Sands

Supported by hundreds of people who believe that the American people don’t need to destroy the planet in order to prosper, dozens spoke up against the construction of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline at a State Department hearing today. Speakers concerned by the threat tar sands oil poses to our nation and our planet included priests and ministers, Obama campaign volunteers, and Nebraska ranchers.

In the video below, ThinkProgress Green excerpts statements from youth activists Ethan Nuss and Danielle Simms, indigenous leaders George Poitras and Debra White Plume, Friends of the Earth president Erich Pica, clean-tech investor Brig. Gen. Steven Anderson, and former pipeline inspector Mike Klink.

The Guardian: Keystone XL: State Department denies bias towards oil industry

The State Department moved to restore its credibility to decide the future of a proposed pipeline between the tar sands of Alberta and the refineries of Texas on Friday, after a day of contentious public hearings on the project.

The four-hour session in Washington DC saw union members heckling a tearful teenager from a Nebraska ranch, an impassioned speech from a Franciscan friar, a brief chant by a Lakota tribal leader, and oil industry lobbyists smoothly promising the Keystone XL pipeline would bring back jobs to the American midwest.

October 6, 2011

The Guardian: Emails reveal close ties between Obama, Clinton and tar sands lobbyists

Environmental groups have raised new concerns about the close ties between Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and lobbyists for the controversial Keystone XL project to carry crude from the tar sands of Alberta to the refineries of Texas.

Friends of the Earth said on Thursday they were expanding their freedom of information request for emails between State Department officials and the pipeline company after learning of seven more pipeline lobbyists who had worked on Obama and Clinton's presidential campaigns, or had ties to Bill Clinton.

Los Angeles Times: American burying beetle becomes player in Keystone pipeline drama

Plans for a 1,700-mile-long tar-sands oil pipeline across the Midwest face a variety of political and logistical hurdles. To that, add one more: a large black beetle with red spots whose habitat, it seems, lies right where the Keystone XL pipeline would go.

Out of 23 endangered species that range on or near the pipeline route, only the American burying beetle would be adversely affected by the controversial, 36-inch pipeline, a recent environmental review says.

New York Times: Group Opposed to Pipeline Seeks More Documents on Lobbyists

Friends of the Earth, an environmental group, expanded its Freedom of Information Act request concerning the State Department’s evaluation of the Keystone XL pipeline proposal, which involves the construction of a new pipeline to carry crude from Canadian oil sands to the Gulf Coast. The environmental group’s original request had centered on communication between the State Department and Paul Elliott, the chief Washington lobbyist for TransCanada, the pipeline company. Mr. Elliott was a senior official in Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s 2008 presidential bid. On Wednesday, the group expanded its request to cover several other lobbyists now working for TransCanada who held senior positions for Mrs. Clinton and President Obama during their campaigns. These include Jeff Berman of Bryan Cave LLC, who was national delegate director for the Obama presidential campaign. Environmental groups say the administration has shown a bias toward approving the pipeline as a result of such ties. 

Huffington Post: Hillary Clinton's Keystone XL Crony Lobbyists Problem

Hillary Clinton and the State Department have the final word on whether to approve the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, unless President Obama intervenes. The influence of tar sands industry lobbyists connected to Hillary Clinton is finally getting some media attention, but there is still more to this story.

Clinton's State Department is finally complying with a FOIA request for documents, after a lawsuit filed in May by three watchdog groups over an alleged lack of transparency regarding contacts with TransCanada lobbyist Paul Elliott, a former staffer on Hillary Clinton's presidential run. Elliott has earned at least $310,000 as TransCanada Pipelines’ in-house lobbyist to influence Congress and several federal agencies, including the State Department, on the Keystone XL pipeline.

Washington Post: Environmental groups target Democratic lobbyists on Canadian oil pipeline 

Environmental groups are demanding more public documents from the State Department about a controversial oil pipeline that will cross the U.S.-Canada border, seeking information on half a dozen lobbyists and their firms connected to the Obama administration.

The new Freedom of Information Act request, which Friends of the Earth, the Center for International Environmental Law and Corporate Ethics International will file Thursday, is part of an ongoing campaign aimed at pressuring the administration to deny a construction and operating ­permit to TransCanada. The firm wants to construct a 1,700-mile pipeline to transport crude extracted from oil sands in Alberta, Canada, to Gulf Coast refineries. State has recently released a slew of e-mails in response to a FOIA that detail how a former campaign aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Paul Elliott, has appealed to the department’s officials to support the proposal. 

Democracy Now!: Naomi Klein: Keystone XL Oil Pipeline Controversy Shows How Wall Street Is Occupying U.S. Gov’t (VIDEO)

Last month, award-winning journalist and author Naomi Klein was in Washington, D.C., where she was arrested along with more than 1,000 people in two-week campaign of civil disobedience outside the White House against the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada’s tar sands field to Gulf Coast refineries. Now in New York City to support the Occupy Wall Street protest, Klein joins us to discuss the connections between the two struggles, and the cozy relationship between the White House, the U.S. State Department that is considering the proposed pipeline, and Keystone XL lobbyists.

The Hill: State Department defends Keystone XL pipeline review

The State Department disclosed information Wednesday about its review of the controversial Keystone XL oil sands pipeline that’s aimed at disputing claims of pro-industry bias.

State is under fire from environmentalists and some Democrats who claim the department has tilted the playing field toward TranaCanada Corp., which is seeking to build a 1,700-mile pipeline to bring crude from Alberta’s oil sands to Gulf Coast refineries. 

NRDC Switchboard: Over 200 business leaders call on the President to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline

Over 200 business leaders sent a letter to President Obama calling on him to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline as not being in our economic interest. The State Department is currently determining whether this project is in the national interest. Business leaders and investors with a stake in the clean energy economy are sending a clear message: the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline will undermine our efforts to move forward with clean energy investments. It is not in our economic interest to support expansion of the tar sands oil industry.

Providing input into the national interest determination process around the pipeline, these business leaders find that “Permitting the Keystone XL pipeline is a long-term investment in tar sands oil, one of the most carbon and water intensive fuels under development. If constructed, this pipeline will undermine the U.S. commitment to a transition to clean, sustainable energy.” 

Omaha World-Herald: Senators, TransCanada to meet

Speaker of the Legislature Mike Flood of Norfolk announced Wednesday that key state lawmakers will meet next week with a top Trans­Canada official.

Flood, an accomplished negotiator, said he wants to see whether the two groups can find common ground concerning the route of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Lincoln Journal Star: Editorial, 10/6: Time running out on pipeline bill

The Nebraska Legislature has been passive for far too long on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

But better late than never.

It's encouraging that a sense of urgency finally seems to be spreading among state senators.

Credit Sen. Annette Dubas of Fullerton for drafting and distributing a 24-page bill designed to give the Nebraska Public Service Commission authority to require the proposed pipeline to be moved from the Nebraska Sandhills.

October 5, 2011

Lincoln Journal Star: Speaker: Senators leaning toward pipeline session

The Legislature could be getting closer to addressing concerns about the route of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline in a special session.

But first, Speaker Mike Flood said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon, senators have more work to do.

Media Matters for America: TV News Outlets Ignore Keystone XL Email Release

The environmental group Friends of the Earth released e-mails this week revealing a cozy and collaborative relationship between TransCanada Corporation lobbyist Paul Elliott and an employee at the U.S. State Department, the agency currently weighing approval of TransCanada's permit application for the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

A New York Times report notes that the emails show the State Department official providing "subtle coaching and cheerleading" for TransCanada:

A State Department official provided Fourth of July party invitations, subtle coaching and cheerleading, and inside information about Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton's meetings to a Washington lobbyist for a Canadian company seeking permission from the department to build a pipeline that would carry crude from the oil sands of Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.

Huffington Post: Keystone XL: State Department Pushes Back On Claims Of Bias In Pipeline Review Process

The State Department has begun to push back on claims by environmental groups that the process for approving a controversial oil pipeline has been mishandled and riddled with bias.

The pipeline project, known as Keystone XL, would deliver oil from Canada into the United States, and is subject to final approval by the State Department, which oversees any energy projects that cross national borders. 

NRDC Switchboard: Outpouring of calls to reject Keystone XL tar sands pipeline as State Department holds final public meeting

The State Department is holding the last in a series of public meetings on TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline on October 7 in Washington. This D.C. hearing concludes a series of meetings in states all along the pipeline right-of-way. Remarkable about these hearings is how clearly they show that people from all walks of life see the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline as a dirty and dangerous step backwards when we should be moving forwards with strong clean energy solutions. The Obama Administration is being sent a clear message that they should reject this tar sands pipeline. President Obama and Secretary Clinton should not want their legacy to include expansion of one of the dirtiest fuels on earth.

The DC hearing this Friday, and the accompanying noon rally, will see the same span of people speaking out against the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and raising their very valid concerns. The kickoff will be a screening of a new film by award-winning director Leslie Iwerks called Pipe Dreams about the real costs of the proposed Keystone XL project. Speakers at the hearing will include a pipeline safety inspector who found problems with safety on the earlier TransCanada pipeline construction, a General who sees tar sands as a problem for security, a Mayor who brings concerns of communities for how this pipeline will undermine their efforts to reduce oil dependence, and First Nations and Tribal representatives whose culture, health and land is being harmed.

The Hill: House Dems press Clinton to reject Keystone XL pipeline

Liberal House Democrats are applying fresh political pressure on the Obama administration to block TransCanada Corp.’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline that would bring crude from Alberta’s oil sands projects to Gulf Coast refineries.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and several colleagues are circulating a sign-on letter that says newly released emails of exchanges between the State Department and TransCanada have tainted State’s review of the project.
 

Huffington Post: Groups Against Keystone XL Oil Pipeline Sue To Block Construction

Environmental groups filed suit against the Obama administration on Wednesday, alleging that U.S. federal officials illegally allowed work on the Keystone XL oil pipeline to begin before the proposed project had been approved.

The Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth and the Western Nebraska Resources Council sued the State Department and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday for violating the National Environmental Policy Act by allegedly allowing construction of the pipeline to begin in Nebraska. 

FOX Business: Environmental Groups Sue To Halt Keystone Pipeline Project -Report

Three environmental groups on Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit to halt construction in Nebraska on TransCanada Corp.'s (TRP, TRP.T) planned Keystone XL pipeline expansion, the Lincoln Journal Star reported on its website.

In the suit, the groups, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Western Nebraska Resources Council and Friends of the Earth Inc., asked for an injunction to halt work on the project. The U.S. government also was named as a defendant.

KTIV.com: Conservation groups sue to block Keystone XL oil pipeline

Three conservation groups are suing to try to stop preliminary work on the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline. The suits were filed in federal court in Nebraska Wednesday. They claim that federal officials allowed TransCanada to clear a 100-mile pipeline corridor through Nebraska's Sandhills, in violation of a federal law that bars projects from starting before they receive approval.

The lawsuit names as defendants the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. State Department, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. The 1,700 mile pipeline would carry oil from the tar sands of western Canada to Texas Gulf Coast refineries. 

The Hill: Groups sue to block Keystone pipeline 

Environmental groups allege in a new lawsuit that the Obama administration has illegally allowed preliminary work on the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline to begin, even though the controversial project has not been granted final approval.

The Center for Biological Diversity, the Western Nebraska Resources Council and Friends of the Earth are suing the State Department and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday.

Reuters: UPDATE 1-Green groups sue to stop work on Keystone oil pipeline

Green groups sued the U.S. government on Wednesday to stop the clearing of grasslands and other work on a pipeline to bring Canadian oil sands crude to Texas, opposed by environmentalists for the petroleum's high greenhouse gas emissions.

The Center for Biological Diversity, the Western Nebraska Resources Council and Friends of the Earth sued the U.S. State Department and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to stop work they called "illegal construction" on the 1,700 mile (2,740 km) pipeline.

The Washington Independent: Groups opposed to Keystone XL ask for State Dept. to be removed from approval process

A coalition of groups that oppose the building of the Keystone XL pipeline is calling on President Obama to remove the State Department from the process of deciding whether to approve the project.

In a letter to Obama, the groups argue that the recent revelations that the State Department was working directly with pipeline owner TransCanada to ensure the project’s approval rather than evaluating the application show that the State Department is biased and incapable of being objective.

Lincoln Journal Star: Environmental groups file lawsuit to block Keystone XL pipeline

Three environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday to block plans to build the controversial Keystone XL pipeline through the Nebraska Sandhills.

The suit was filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, the Western Nebraska Resources Council and Friends of the Earth Inc. and asks for an injunction to halt work on the project.

The Globe and Mail: Conservation groups sue to stop groundwork on Keystone pipeline

Three conservation groups are suing to halt preliminary work on a proposed 2,730-kilometre long oil pipeline from the tar sands of western Canada to Texas Gulf Coast refineries.

The lawsuit to be filed Wednesday in federal court in Nebraska contends that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service broke the law by allowing Canadian pipeline operator TransCanada to start preparing the route for its Keystone XL pipeline.  

Omaha World-Herald: Suit: Pipeline work jumps gun

Three environmental groups were suing the federal government Wednesday for allowing work to start on the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline before the project has received final approval.

The groups named the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. State Department in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Omaha. They say the agencies have allowed TransCanada, the project sponsor, to mow a pathway for the pipeline before the State Department has given final authorization.

The Associated Press: Conservationists sue to block TransCanada pipeline

U.S. officials illegally allowed a Canadian company to begin preparing the route for its proposed 1,700-mile-long oil pipeline from western Canada to Texas even though the project hasn't gained final government approval, three conservationist groups contend in a lawsuit.

The lawsuit, which the groups planned to file Wednesday in federal court in Omaha, seeks a halt work on TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry crude from the oil sands of Alberta, Canada, to Texas Gulf Coast refineries. It alleges that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service allowed the pipeline operator to prematurely disrupt the environment.

National Journal: Democrats Press Clinton on Oil Sands Pipeline

House Democrats are urging Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to oppose the controversial Keystone XL oil sands pipeline in light of recently uncovered e-mails that show what they say is an overly friendly relationship between a State Department official and a lobbyist for TransCanada, the company seeking to build the pipeline.

“Rather than acting as fair arbiters of TransCanada’s application to build a massive pipeline across environmentally sensitive areas of the United States, State Department officials appear to have acted as little more than cheerleaders for the company’s bid,” states a letter written by Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., which was circulating among other House Democratic offices on Tuesday to gather more signatures. 

The Colorado Independent: More emails released between TransCanada and State Department

The environmental group Friends of the Earth released more emails between the U.S. State Department and TransCanada that they say shows a “smoking gun” proving an unethical relationship between the two.

The State Department is tasked with deciding whether to grant a permit to build the proposed pipeline, which would carry tar sands crude oil from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf Coast of the United States. But rather than evaluating that application, key officials seem to be cheerleading the project and working with the company to ensure approval. 

The Daily Republic: OUR VIEW: Pipeline exchanges show odd relationship that’s unfair  

So that’s our stance. Build the pipeline, and make sure all necessary environmental precautions are in place.

Yet we are disturbed by an Associated Press report that was published in Tuesday’s Daily Republic, outlining what we consider an inappropriate relationship between a federal official and a lobbyist for TransCanada, the company that wants to build the pipeline.

 October 4, 2011

Los Angeles Times: State Department accused of cozy ties with Keystone XL lobbyist

The lobbyist for a Canadian company trying to build a new 1,700-mile oil pipeline across the U.S. got quiet support, including boosterish emails and an invitation to an official Fourth of July celebration, from employees at the U.S. State Department while the agency was deciding whether to approve a permit for the pipeline, some of the nation's top environmental groups alleged Tuesday.

The Trans-Canada Corp. lobbyist, Paul Elliott, is a former top campaign aide for U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and appeared to use his connections inside the department to promote Trans-Canada's bid to build the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, the groups said in a complaint to the White House. 

The Associated Press: Opponents decry State Dept 'bias' on oil pipeline

Environmental groups on Tuesday asked President Barack Obama to intervene on a Canadian company's plan to pipe oil from tar sands in western Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast, ratcheting up their opposition in the long-running battle against the Keystone XL pipeline.

The groups charged that the State Department is biased in favor of the pipeline, and they urged Obama to push the State Department aside and personally make a decision on the pipeline plan.

KVNO News: Keystone fight heads to White House

The fight over the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline is heading directly to the White House. Today, national environmental groups called on President Barack Obama to step in and halt the project.

“The question I think that’s before us is can he actually hear us anymore, or is the sound of corporate checks being written distracting him before the election?” Harsh words directed at President Obama from Rebecca Tarbotton, the Executive Director of the Rainforest Action Network. Tarbotton joined several national environmental groups in a conference call with reporters to urge the President to reject TransCanada’s plans to build the pipeline.

Huffington Post: Keystone Pipeline Critics Call The Project 'Crony Capitalism' And Urge Obama To Reject It

The heads of more than a dozen major environmental, health and other non-profit groups called on President Barack Obama Tuesday to strip the State Department of its authority to permit the controversial oil pipeline project known as Keystone XL. In a letter addressed to the president, they argued that recently released emails suggest the agency has had a clear bias toward the oil industry in weighing the virtues of the proposed project, which would deliver crude oil harvested from Canada to refineries in Texas.

"Mr. President, given this substantial evidence of pro-industry bias within your administration –- evidence that the State Department was acting in partnership with the oil industry and Canadian government to secure pipeline approval prior to conducting an environmental review," the groups state in the letter, "it would be irresponsible for you to follow the State Department’s guidance as you make your determination about whether the pipeline is in the national interest." 

SustainableBusiness.com: Emails Reveal Cozy Relationship Between Tar Sands Lobbyist & State Department

Emails retrieved under the Freedom of Information Act reveal a cozy relationship between a top Tar Sands lobbyist and the US State Department.

The groups are calling on President Obama to revoke pipeline permitting authority from State Department.

The documents provide definitive evidence that the State Department's review of TransCanada's controversial Keystone tar sands pipeline has been irreparably tainted by department employees' pro-pipeline bias and complicit relationships with industry executives, including an oil lobbyist who was once a top Hillary Clinton campaign aide.

MSNBC.com: Pipeline lobbyist, State Dept. emails disclosed

 As Washington edges closer to deciding the fate of a pipeline to bring crude from Canada's oil sands to Texas, emails between the company's lobbyist and the State Department show a cozy relationship that indicates a U.S. bias toward the project, an environmental group says.

The department rejects the charge, saying it has met with both industry and environmentalists on the project and is committed to a fair process. The company, TransCanada Corp, says its lobbyist, Paul Elliott, is simply doing his job and broke no law.

Democracy Now!: Emails Reveal Cozy Relationship Between Pipeline Lobbyist, State Department

NRDC Switchboard: Emails reveal 'gentleman's agreement' between State and TransCanada for Keystone XL tar sands pipeline

Recently released emails show that the State Department is aware that TransCanada intends to use the 57 conditions it ‘voluntarily’ agreed to operate the proposed Keystone XL  tar sands pipeline at higher pressures than minimum safety standards allow. Despite this knowledge, the State Department has been publicly trumpeting these conditions as proof that TransCanada would go beyond what is legally required to ensure the safety of this pipeline. Instead, TransCanada in a gentleman’s agreement with the State Department set up these so-called safety conditions so that later when public scrutiny has died down, they can endanger our rural areas as they move forward with higher pressure levels for the corrosive tar sands oil. Many politicians and their constituents have relied on State Department’s good faith and objectivity as they considered their position on Keystone XL. These emails show that reliance was misplaced. It is time for the Obama Administration to step in before the State Department puts its rubber stamp on a scandal.

 Great Falls Tribune: Keystone XL foes see collusion in emails with State Department

Emails obtained by an environmental group opposed to the Keystone XL pipeline appear to show a cozy relationship between TransCanada's top lobbyist and a staffer in the U.S. State Department, the agency charged with deciding whether to permit the $7 billion project.

The documents also indicate that TransCanada intends to reapply to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to operate the Keystone XL at higher pressures than current federal standards allow once the company has received a presidential permit to build the international pipeline.

October 3, 2011

Opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline proposal continued their assault Monday on what they consider a corrupt federal approval process for the project, releasing dozens of new email messages between State Department employees and a lobbyist for the company behind the pipeline, TransCanada.

The emails, part of a growing cache obtained by the environmental group Friends of the Earth, focus on the interaction between TransCanada lobbyist Paul Elliott, a former deputy campaign director for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's failed 2008 presidential bid, and representatives of the State Department, which is currently weighing approval of the Keystone XL project.

Washington Post: Keystone pipeline e-mails show friendly exchanges

The State Department has released a new series of e-mails about the controversial Keystone pipeline proposal that show a friendly relationship between a U.S. Embassy official in Ottawa and TransCanada’s Washington lobbyist.

At times, State Department official Marja D. Verloop — who oversees energy, science and environmental issues at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa — appears to be cheering on TransCanada’s Washington lobbyist Paul Elliott in his efforts to enlist congressional support for the pipeline extension.

Mother Jones: Emails reveal close ties between TransCanada lobbyist and State Dept.

Emails released by the State Department through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request show a close relationship between the top lobbyist for energy company TransCanada and a US diplomat—a relationship that environmental groups say has compromised the agency's ability to make a fair decision on the company's proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

The ties between Paul Elliott, TransCanada's director of government relations, and the State Department have come under considerable scrutiny as the company has sought the agency's approval to build a 1,661-mile pipeline from Alberta, Canada, to Texas. Before going to work for TransCanada, Elliott served as the national deputy director for Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. The environmental group Friends of the Earth filed a FOIA request in December 2010 seeking emails and other documents concerning Elliot's contact with State Department employees. (The group released a first round of documents several weeks ago.) The more notable emails in this most recent round is correspondence between Elliott and Marja Verloop, the counselor for environment, science, technology, and health at the US embassy in Canada. Verloop appears to be a key point of contact between the embassy and TransCanada.

The Hill: Green group says TransCanada, State Dept. emails show 'pro-pipeline bias'

Internal emails released Monday show a sometimes friendly relationship between a State Department official and a top lobbyist for TransCanada Corp., the company seeking federal approval to build a major Canada-U.S. oil pipeline.

The environmental group Friends of the Earth, which obtained the emails under a Freedom of Information Act request, said the documents are “deeply disturbing” and indicate “pro-pipeline bias and complicity at the State Department,” the federal agency that is heading up a review of TransCanada’s application to build the Keystone XL pipeline.

Omaha World-Herald: Pipeline foes allege bias in email

A group opposed to the Keystone XL pipeline says a fresh batch of emails it released Monday shows the State Department is biased in favor of the project.

In one email exchange from a little over a year ago, pipeline lobbyist Paul Elliott forwarded a press release to State Department official Marja Verloop touting an endorsement of the pipeline by Montana Sen. Max Baucus.

"Go Paul! Baucus support holds clout," Verloop responded.

Politico:  Enviros: TransCanada, State emails 'cozy'

Canadian Press: Emails spark fresh controversy over Keystone XL pipeline

American opponents of TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline are stepping up their line of attack.

New emails obtained by the environmental group Friends of the Earth suggest a cosy relationship between a TransCanada lobbyist and employees at the U.S. State Department, which will decide the fate of the controversial pipeline in the coming weeks.

The emails prove the approval process is hopelessly corrupt, Friends of the Earth says, since they show evidence of complicity between TransCanada and U.S. officials.

Daily Beast: State Dept. cozy with pipeline developer

While charged with reviewing the environmental impact of a controversial pipeline from Canada’s oil sands to the Gulf Coast, U.S. State Department officials had a cozy, collaborative relationship with TransCanada, the proposed pipeline’s developer. Emails obtained by environmental group Friends of the Earth revealed that one senior U.S. official scored invitations to Fourth of July parties for TransCanada executives, shared information with them about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s meetings, and cheered on their bid for the pipeline’s approval. The State Department is tasked with determining if the pipeline is in the “national interest,” and has said it would have “limited” environmental impact. But the EPA and environmental activists have assailed the initial review as inadequate, and oppose the pipeline because extracting from oil sands causes heavy emissions and destroys pristine forests.

London Free Press: U.S. bias for Keystone pipeline alleged

An environmental lobby group says the U.S. state department shows a "pro-pipeline bias and complicity" in e-mails with TransCanada, the company that hopes to build an oil pipeline from Alberta to Texas.

The e-mails were released to the U.S. chapter of the group Friends of the Earth through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The Globe and Mail: E-mails fuel charges of ‘complicity’ between State, TransCan

Critics of the TransCanada Corp. (TRP-T40.92-0.24-0.58%) Keystone XL project are raising new questions about the U.S. State Department’s review of the controversial pipeline, after a second batch of internal documents showed an Ottawa-based U.S. official cheering on TransCanada.

The relationship between Paul Elliott, a TransCanada lobbyist, and various State Department employees is at the heart of the hundreds of pages of internal correspondence released to environmental groups as part of a Freedom of Information Act request. Many are e-mails between Mr. Elliott, and Marja Verloop, the State Department’s counsellor for energy and environment at the U.S. embassy in Ottawa.

Vancouver Sun: U.S. official cheered TransCanada lobbyist with ties to Hillary Clinton

A U.S. Embassy official in Ottawa cheered on a well-connected lobbyist for Calgary-based TransCanada Corp. after he secured a key political endorsement for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, new State Department documents show.

The exchange was amongst almost 200 pages of emails and correspondence released Monday involving Paul Elliott, a TransCanada employee who served as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's deputy national campaign director in the 2008 presidential race.

ThinkProgress: Morning Briefing: October 3, 2011

Newly released emails appear to show that the U.S. State Department has been collaborating with oil pipeline giant TransCanada to win approval for a controversial expansion of the Keystone XL pipeline. Critics point to emails from American diplomats praising TransCanada lobbyists after Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) came out in favor the expansion, for example.