Bernie Sanders and 13 other lawmakers call on President Obama to delay Keystone pipeline decision

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Wed Oct 26, 2011 2:00pm EDT

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday asked the State Department inspector general to investigate whether conflicts of interest tainted the process for reviewing a proposed crude oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. In a separate letter to President Barack Obama, Sanders, Reps. Steve Cohen and Peter Welch and 11 other senators and congressmen cited "serious concerns" about the integrity of the review and asked the White House to withhold any decision on the project until the inspector general's investigation is completed, made public and evaluated.

TransCanada, the company proposing the Keystone XL pipeline project, reportedly was allowed to screen private firms competing to perform an environmental impact study on the pipeline. Cardno Entrix, the politically-connected firm ultimately selected to conduct the environmental impact study, had significant financial ties to TransCanada.

"Given the significant economic, environmental, and public health implications of the proposed pipeline, we believe that it is critical that the State Department conduct thorough, unbiased reviews of the project," the lawmakers wrote to Deputy Inspector General Harold W. Geisel.

Their letter posed a series of detailed questions designed to determine whether the selection of the firm and the environmental review process was "free of actual or apparent conflicts of interest."

The 1,700-mile pipeline would carry more than half a million barrels of oil a day from Canada's tar sands to refineries in Texas. The State Department is reviewing the proposal because the pipeline would cross the international border between the United States and Canada.


read: http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=BD202829-66E3-4088-A108-289E6E445CE9

read the letter to the State Department office of the inspector general: http://sanders.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/IG%20Letter%20FINAL.pdf

related:

President Obama: No Decision On Transnational Pipeline
http://www.salon.com/2011/10/26/obama_no_decision_on_transnational_pipeline/

Keystone XL Pipeline Decision Could Be Delayed
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/25/us-usa-pipeline-review-idUSTRE79O7VP20111025

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. I am afraid the fix is already in on this one...

To proceed.

Still, I respect the efforts being made by Senator Sanders and the others.

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2. you're probably right, CP

Even though it looks like the decision could be delayed until after the end of the year, there might be an opportunity to draw the President out before the election and make him, at least, acknowledge the glaring environmental concerns and environmental flaws in the project plans. That would put the administration's pipeline supporters on their heels.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. That opportunity might help.

But when the support comes from within his administration, as in the Secretary of State's office, then it becomes much more difficult to fight.

Hilary has backed this.

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4. dupe

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5. many folks are just waking up

. . . and noticing their neighborhoods are on the pipeline route. Regional objections could easily flare in this election season, and given the high profile on this issue and the administration stacked in favor of the deal, there's still the President left to consider whether his decision will cost him votes in 'battleground' states and localities.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. The Jim Lehrer Newshour had a story on this last week, I think...

They interviewed several families who have farms on the route. These folks told of threats by the Canadian firm, where their lands were being sought under eminent domain.

These families are really pissed off.

It made my blood boil just watching it.