Office of Inspector General to investigate tar sands pipeline deal

[kpete]

Source: Raw Story

A letter from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) appears to have triggered what thousands of protesters could not: a serious re-examining of the deal to secure the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

“We are disturbed by reports, such as those in The New York Times on October 7, 2011, that the State Department allowed TransCanada, the pipeline developer, to screen applicants to conduct the (environmental impact study) mandated by federal law,” their letter reads, going on to worry that the process may have been corrupted by a “conflict of interest.”

Responding to the request for an investigation into the State Dept. handling of the deal, the Office of Inspector General said it would oblige.


“The primary objective of the review is to determine to what extent the Department and all other parties involved complied with Federal laws and regulations relating to the Keystone XL pipeline permit process,” inspector Harold W. Geisel wrote (PDF).

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/11/07/inspector-general-to-investigate-tar-sands-pipeline-deal/

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Cohen Initiative Leads to Special Inquiry of State Department's Handling of Keystone XL Pipeline
http://cohen.house.gov/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1679

[Dont call me Shirley]

1. Thank you Sen Sanders and Rep Cohen.

[JJW]

2. Fox to guard hen house

So State Dept allowed a foreign corporation to pick it's own desired examiners. How do we spell treason?

The buck stops on both Hillary Clinton's and President Obama's desks. Both need to resign in disgrace immediately.

[Lionessa]

3. This seems good, but I have to ask...

is this Office any less bought and paid for than any other office in the administration or Congress, or Supreme Court, or Police/Penal system?

Or is it just going to be more of the same buddy type of investigations we've seen to date on any of the atrocities of regulators to date, like the whole feds being bought by BP, Exxon, et al. through to the BP Oil spill, which really might still be going on. There seemed no repercussions, no accountability, no end to the carelessness of oil companies.

Is this just more of the same non-investigative type of investigation?

[cilla4progress]

Successful political action

is stopping this violation!

One can hope..

[cilla4progress]

4. Successful political action

is stopping this violation!

One can hope..

[Little Tich]

5. EU: Drawing a Line in the Tar Sands?

Source: Truthout.org

A controversial move to prohibit oil imported from what’s been called the world’s dirtiest fuel source could be an example for the rest of us.

Tar sands imports to the EU could be banned altogether after the EU Commission on Climate Change backed new greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards as part of the Fuel Quality Directive first adopted in 2009. Pursuant to the directive’s original goal of a 6 percent reduction of CO2 emissions from transport fuel production by 2020, the new standards set values for each fuel based on estimated grams of CO2 released per megajoule of energy produced.

They set a much higher emissions value for tar sands oil than conventional oil production, making oil produced in Canada's controversial sands an unviable option if the directive’s goals are to be achieved.

Although tar sands oil is not a major import to the EU, the move reveals a sharp contrast between international business interests and environmental realities, and would set a precedent for future bans on other controversial fuels—including shale gas, whose extraction process is known as fracking.

Read more: http://www.truth-out.org/eu-drawing-line-tar-sands/1320333969

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It's somewhat related, and shows that the tar sands pipeline is not very popular in Europe.