Keystone Pipeline Lobbyists Were Hillary Clinton Fundraisers

By Matt Bewig

 

United States - Environmental group Friends of the Earth (FOE) last week sued the State Department for access to communications between it and lobbyists promoting the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, two of whom were prominent fundraisers for the 2008 presidential campaign of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. That project, in which Canadian oil company TransCanada wants to build nearly 2,000 miles of pipeline to carry tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada, to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico, requires a presidential permit from the State Department. FOE originally filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the materials in 2010.

 

Two of the lobbyists named in the FOIA request, Gordon Giffin of McKenna, Long & Aldridge, and James Blanchard of DLA Piper, were fundraising bundlers for Clinton’s presidential bid, and DLA Piper was the largest single corporate source of employee and PAC contributions to her campaign. Both Blanchard and Giffin served as U.S. Ambassador to Canada under President Bill Clinton, Blanchard from 1993-1997 and Giffin from 1997-2001.

 

A third pipeline lobbyist, Paul Elliott, worked on Clinton’s campaign as national deputy director and chief of staff for delegate selection. Although the Obama administration recently rejected the permit, TransCanada is preparing a new permit application, leading Damon Moglen, climate and energy project director at FOE, to explain the continued relevance of the request: “The communications we seek are key to ensuring that the State Department isn’t letting lobbyists’ personal connections to Secretary Clinton or President Obama bias its decision-making."

Keystone XL Pipeline Still Has Fight Behind It

United States/Canada - Although the Keystone XL pipeline legislation was pushed back due to President Obama vetoing it, there still seems to be an effort to push it through.




A new bill proposed by Republican Senator John Hoeven would allow the pipeline to start immediately and  without President Obama's approval, though the passage of the bill itself will require his signature.  The bill is sponsored by 43 Republicans and one Democrat, Senator Joe Manchin.  Other Democrats have stated their approval of the pipeline in the past. The Congressional Research Service says Congress has the constitutional right to legislate permits for pipelines such as Keystone XL.

The State Department, which will conduct an environmental impact review before the project is officially given the green light, said authority for the pipeline should be with the administration because of foreign policy, economic, environmental and safety issues.

If this doesn't pass, TransCanada plans to apply for yet another presidential permit but it won't happen until after the election taking place later this year.

The Keystone Pipeline and Obama's Missteps

The Proposed Keystone XL pipeline runs through six states

United States - While Republicans are saying the Keystone XL pipeline needs to be approved as soon as possible, the Obama Administration is still questioning if an alternate route would be a better solution.  Sadly the Obama's White House is seeing this project in the completely wrong light.

Republicans have announced, however, their game plan.  If Obama rejects it - and chances are he won't given he caves in to pressure - they will force it through Congress' power to regulate commerce with other countries.

Ryan Bernstein, energy adviser to Senator John Hoeven of North Dakota, said in an interview "We believe that express authority in the Constitution gives Congress the ability to approve and move forward on such a project." While Tom Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce states, falsely, the pipeline will create about 20-thousand jobs the day it's approved.  It will create about six-thousand menial jobs which are temporary until its completion, upon which only 20 people will have a permanent job.

If this happens this could put the State Department at odds with Congress, as it holds authority when it comes to cross-border pipeline permits.

What Obama needs to do is to look at the facts and go with them.  While labor organizations are supportive of the pipeline, believing the Republican lie about how many jobs will be created, the fact is it will not only create less of them, but actually take away jobs from people.  He also has to deal with the few environmentalists who are left on his side.  Moving forward with thi idea will cause almost all of them to abandon him completely and he needs every single bit of support he can hold for the election.  The only way to solve this issue is to work on genuine energy alternatives and leave the Keystone XL pipeline idea where it's sitting.  He then needs to get the Democrats who are supporting this project in line with him and state the actual facts about the pipeline.  It's supported by Republicans and Democrats who are in the pockets of oil interests, that it harms the environment in a devastating way, and if a spill happens it could destroy the Midwest for an untold period of time.  All the people who live there will get is a dirty life, 10 to 20 cents more per gallon  added to the price at the pump and dirty water.  Nobody wants any of that stuff.

Keystone XL Legislation Won't Go Through Sandhills

Lincoln, Nebraska – Two bills to make sure the Keystone XL Pipeline would not go through the Sandhills region of Nebraska will reach a final vote November 29^th.

Nebraska's legislators also approved a measure allowing the state to pay around two-million dollars for an environmental study for a new route and gives governor Dave Heineman the final say on it.

Nebraska Senator Mike Flood announced proudly he made a deal with TransCanada, the company behind the Keystone XL pipeline. While he didn't say specifically what was in the deal, he did say the company volunteered to move the route out of the Sandhills.

Another bill was approved on November 17^th by Senator Annette Dubas giving the Nebraska Public Service Commission authority for all future oil pipelines. It doesn't apply to Keystone XL.