State Department’ Keystone XL Report Actually Written By TransCanada Contractor

[eridani]

http://grist.org/article/state-department-keystone-xl-report-actually-written-by-transcanada-contractor/

The State Department’s “don’t worry” environmental impact statement for the proposed Keystone XL tarsands pipeline, released late Friday afternoon, was written not by government officials but by a private company in the pay of the pipeline’s owner. The “sustainability consultancy” Environmental Resources Management (ERM) was paid an undisclosed amount under contract to TransCanada to write the statement, which is now an official government document. The statement estimates, and then dismisses, the pipeline’s massive carbon footprint and other environmental impacts, because, it asserts, the mining and burning of the tar sands is unstoppable.

The department’s contractor-written Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement even says the pipeline will be safe from the climate impacts to which it will contribute.

[Berlum]

1. For Gawd's sake

[Champion Jack]

2. Is this being reported ANYWHERE?

[eridani]

3. No. I'd suggest a barrage of LTEs

Also emails to representatives and the White House.

[Buzz Clik]

26. Yes. I heard on the radio and read it in the newspaper.

[progressoid]

4. Meet the new boss,

same as the old boss.

The Corporate States of America.

[Gold Metal Flake]

5. Did that come from the Clinton State Dept. or is it from the Kerry State Dept.?

[Autumn]

8. I would say the Obama State Department.

I'm convinced that Clinton and Kerry were appointed by Obama and work for him.

[DeSwiss]

6. So I see we're no longer playing.....

...multi-dimensional chess, and have now fallen back on the tried and true game of checkers.



- Specifically the game of ''Giveaway......''

K&R

[jsr]

14. Hard to decide whether it's hopscotch or thimblerig

[bemildred]

7. What did you expect? nt

[Bainbridge Bear]

9. OOOOOH, I feel so much better

that the XL pipeline will be safe from the climate disasters that it helps to ravage the country with. And all this so that the Koch Brothers can save billions in refining costs and Harper's right-wing Canadian government can continue to plunder Canada. Dr. James Hansen has said that this pipeline will be "game over" for the climate. Our grandchildren will never forgive us.

[tex-wyo-dem]

22. "XL pipeline will be safe from the climate disasters that it helps to ravage"

Quite the irony, eh?

Kind of like the melting of the polar icecap opens up whole new territory for more oil exploration.

This is not a funny sort of irony

[tblue]

10. Let's tell Rachel and Ed.

Maybe they'll cover it.

[AngryOldDem]

32. CNN had a pretty extensive piece on it last weekend.

Ali Velschi's Sunday afternoon show had Darryl Hannah, Van Jones, and the Canadian ambassador to the U.S. Velschi had an example of what the sludge that would be coming through the pipeline looks like compared to other kinds of oil, and it is nasty. Basically, it's pipe-eating waste that even Canada won't transport. I wish I could fully remember how Jones described it, but he more or less said that this stuff is an environmental hazard of the first order and should not be coming through the U.S.

Hannah brought up the fact to the ambassador that the report was bought by TransCanada. The ambassador, predictably, sputtered and stammered and really had no response. But he did say that if it came down to "taking the word of an actress against professionals," he would side with the professionals. Totally insulting.

[blm]

11. Grist reported August 2011 that Keystone was a done deal.

The politicos have been holding off to give Hillary the distance so it wouldn't become a roadblock for the 2016 primary.

https://mobile.twitter.com/drgrist/status/108972277130997760

[CanonRay]

12. How cozy is that...

This is a totally done deal, no matter what anybody outside Washington thinks about it.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

13. "Unstoppable" --

Well, there is a bit of truth in the report. Short of Sea Shepard-like action against the building of the pipeline, it IS going through -- with the help of a Democratic president.

It sucks to be us.

[jsr]

15. “We need to find the courage to leave a far different legacy.”

There is still hope for change, after all.

[XemaSab]

16. This is how consulting works

It's how all environmental documents are written.

[99Forever]

18. "It's how all environmental documents are written."

Many would say that's precisely the fucking problem.

[XemaSab]

19. So you think the State Department

should have hundreds of biologists, archaeologists, geologists, planners, analysts, and so forth on staff?

Interesting idea.

[99Forever]

21. Yeah...

... that's exactly what I said.

[tex-wyo-dem]

23. So, you think that "consultants" working for...

Corporations that have a huge vested interest in how the environmental impact report is written should write said environmental impact report?

Interesting idea.

[XemaSab]

24. I think that the project proponent should pay for the costs of the environmental work

Yes.

[tex-wyo-dem]

27. I don't disagree with that, but...

Who does the environmental work, and how do we know that that company or entity that is ding the work is not skewing results in favor of who's buttering their bread?

Personally, I would feel a lot more comfortable with a government entity with oversight doing the work.

[XemaSab]

30. The state department has oversight

They sign off on the document.

[Fumesucker]

25. That's not what XemaSab said

The snark around here can be pretty subtle sometimes and it's easy to misread it, XemaSab tends toward being a bit snarky in my experience.

[tex-wyo-dem]

28. my apologies if I didn't pick up on the snark...

If XemaSab is saying he/she agrees that the government should be emloying hundereds of scientists, then I couldn't agree more. This is much too important of an issue to be taken up by profit-seeking drones.

[99Forever]

17. Questioning authority is treason.

STFU, there are profits to be made.

A healthy environment for future generations does not matter. How dare you doubt ANYONE with a "D" behind their name.

[Fuddnik]

20. Nobody saw that coming.

[SidDithers]

29. I think grist gets it wrong...

ERM has no business
relationship with TransCanada
or its affiliates, and in the
attached is certifying that no
conflict of interest exists for
working on this Project.

Section 7 is where Conflict of Interest is declared. You can read it right here.
http://keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov/documents/organization/205729.pdf

I mean, I guess ERM could be lying, but it would be pretty stupid to do that right there in the Impact Statement.

The agreement shown on the grist page ( http://keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov/documents/organization/205730.pdf ) details the third party structure that ERM has with the Department of State to conduct the Environmental Review. As written in the document:

The Department of State (Department) solicited proposals for the preparation of a Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) and related documents and services for the proposed Project. The
SEIS will supplement the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) issued by the Department on August
26, 2011 for the original Keystone XL pipeline project. The SEIS will be prepared under this third-party
contractual agreement paid for by TransCanada and supervised and controlled by the Department, with
TransCanada being the Applicant. The Department will act as the lead Federal agency for preparing the
SEIS consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Department will be responsible for
providing supervisory and technical direction to the Third-Party Contractor. This contract has been executed
pursuant to third-party contracting procedures consistent with 40 CFR 1506.5(c) and the Department’s
Interim Guidance for the Use of Third Party Contractors in the Preparation of Environmental Documents
(Interim Guidance).

The Department solicited proposals through an RFP for a Third-Party Contractor to provide the services
described in sections 1.3. The technical and cost proposals were reviewed and evaluated by the
Department. The Department made the final selection of the Third-Party Contractor, based on its review of
the technical, cost, managerial, personnel, and Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) aspects of each
proposal. Upon selection of the Third-Party Contractor by the Department, TransCanada finalized a contract
with and fund the successful contractor for the preparation of an SEIS and attendant activities.

With the selection of this Third-Party Contractor, the Department will supervise and direct the activities of the
contractor in the consultation, review, preparation and processing of documents within the scope identified
herein. TransCanada will not have control over, nor direct the activities of the contractor.

Basically, the State Department puts out the RFP, selects the the third-party contractor to write the Environmental Impact and supervises the contractor throughout the process. Keystone has to pay for the Environmental Review, but ERM is working for the State Department.

Sid

[eridani]

31. Yes--Grist is essentially saying that ERM is lying

Given that the State Department has been pushing this crap all along, their determination of conflict of interest is suspect by nature.

[XemaSab]

33. Exactly

[Enrique]

34. ...