The US State Dept. TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline

The US State Dept. has outsourced much of its responsibility for determining whether to give approval to the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline to TransCanada consultant Cardno-ENTRIX, including  :

1) the State Dept.'s TransCanada KeystoneXL webpage - see the tiny print at the bottom ,

2) two Environmental Impact Statements(EIS) and Presidential Permits for international border crossing  (Great commentary and an explanation on how EIS work from Scarecrow at FireDogLake), and

3) the public hearings held in the states along the length of the proposed pipeline - Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas - with a final one in Washington DC on October 9.

Should you wish to send your opinion of the pipeline proposal directly to the US State Dept, Cardno-ENTRIX handles that too.

The US State Dept has inserted a corporation between itself and the people it was elected to serve.

Excellent article and new information on this extraordinary conflict of interest from Brad Johnson at Think Progress yesterday, with thanks to his link to a Creekside post back in July , where we noted :

 Cardno-ENTRIX explains on their website :

Keystone XL Oil Pipeline Project EIS

Client : TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P. (Keystone)
"TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P. (Keystone) has applied to the U.S. Department of State (DOS) for a Presidential Permit ....
Keystone contracted with Cardno ENTRIX as the third-party contractor to assist DOS in preparing the EIS and to conduct the Section 106 consultation process."

and again in a Cardno Mergers Presentation :

Keystone and Keystone XL Pipelines

Client : US Department of State and TransCanada

ENTRIX is the prime contractor for the preparation of two third party EIS’s for the US Department of State and TransCanada Keystone Crude Oil Pipeline System.The project features 1,702 miles of new 36-inch diameter pipeline (327 miles in Canada and 1,375 miles in U.S.) with capacity for 900,000 barrels per day.

So how did those Cardno-ENTRIX public pipeline hearings go?

People arriving 45 minutes early to the Port Arthur, Texas hearing found "hundreds" of people already there in t-shirts which read BUILD KEYSTONE XL NOW! GOOD JOBS! U.S. SECURITY!

"Once we were allowed to sign up to speak (at a table staffed by Cardno Entrix, according to their name tags) we entered the room to find the first 8-10 rows, (left side:suits, right side: oil field workers), filled by these individuals and their slogans."

By the time people in opposition got their turn, it was getting late and their time to speak was cut back.
But at least they didn't get arrested for it.

Austin, Texas :

"According to Karen Hadden, the Executive Director of the Sustainable and Economic Development (SEED) Coalition, “This was not a hearing, this was a farce.” Ms. Hadden arrived and had been waiting for a couple of hours to give comments when they cut the hearing off. Later, when she was attempting to find out what her options were for providing comments to the State Department given she was unable to do so at the hearing, she was told she must leave the premises or she would be arrested."

Ms Hadden provides a photo of someone else being arrested for 'expressing concerns about the flawed process'.
The public hearings along the pipeline route are now over.

There's been no media interest so far up here in Canada that TransCanada and the US State Dept have apparently shared the use of a "professional environmental consulting company" in the almost certain future approval of the KeystoneXL pipeline.

Must be part of that "Shaping the Future" thing.
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State Dept. hires TransCanada consultant to approve Keystone pipeline

Signs point to US approval of oilsands pipeline - Chicago Tribune

"The US State Department has completed two environmental impact statements on the [Keystone] pipeline with the help of Cardno Entrix, an environmental consulting firm that has said its biggest clients include TransCanada Corp., the owner of the Keystone pipeline system."


I hadn't heard this before so I checked out the Cardno Entrix website. See above graphic.

On June 1, 2010, Cardno, "an integrated professional services provider" acquired two US environmental consultancy firms, ENTRIX and ERI .

From Cardno’s ENTRIX and ERI Acquisition Strategy on "complementary markets":

•Acquiring ENTRIX and ERI will increase Cardno’s revenue from environmental consulting businesses –a growth industry.

•Cardno’s strategy is also to increase its proportion of revenue from resources and energy business including oil and gas, mining and industrial sectors.

Current Key Projects.
Keystone and Keystone XL Pipelines
Client: US Department of State and TransCanada

ENTRIX is the prime contractor for the preparation of two third party EIS’s for the US Department of State and TransCanada Keystone Crude Oil Pipeline System. The project features 1,702 miles of new 36-inch diameter pipeline (327miles in Canada and 1,375 miles in U.S.) with capacity for 900,000 barrels per day.

ENTRIX is preparing two Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) and Presidential Permits for international border crossing under the direction of Department of State and Department of Energy.

Well that's handy. And we already know much of the Koch-sponsored US House Energy and Commerce Committee is on board.

Funny thing - TransCanada is also a sponsor of our own government's quest for a national tarsands energy strategy.
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State Dept. WikiLeakage

U.S. to Host World Press Freedom Day in 2011

Press Statement
Philip J. Crowley Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Public Affairs
Washington, DC
December 7, 2010

"The United States is pleased to announce that it will host UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Day event in 2011, from May 1 - May 3 in Washington, D.C. UNESCO is the only UN agency with the mandate to promote freedom of expression and its corollary, freedom of the press.

The theme for next year’s commemoration will be 21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers. The United States places technology and innovation at the forefront of its diplomatic and development efforts. New media has empowered citizens around the world to report on their circumstances, express opinions on world events, and exchange information in environments sometimes hostile to such exercises of individuals’ right to freedom of expression.

At the same time, we are concerned about the determination of some governments to censor and silence individuals, and to restrict the free flow of information. We mark events such as World Press Freedom Day in the context of our enduring commitment to support and expand press freedom and the free flow of information in this digital age.

Highlighting the many events surrounding the celebration will be the awarding of the UNESCO Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize at the National Press Club on May 3rd. This prize, determined by an independent jury of international journalists, honors a person, organization or institution that has notably contributed to the defense and/or promotion of press freedom, especially where risks have been undertaken."

Same dude, same day ....

ABC News :

"State Department spokesman P J Crowley said the WikiLeaks was inviting terrorist attacks by releasing the cable that mention some of the key infrastructures projects across the globe identified by the US as vital for its national security interest. Without discussing any particular cable, the release of this kind of information gives a group like al Qaeda a targeting list. This is why we have condemned WikiLeaks for what it has done."

So. No UNESCO prize likely to be forthcoming for Wikileaks for "promotion of press freedom, especially where risks have been undertaken."

Because prior to these leaks, no one could possibly have guessed where the Canadian border crossings are or that an Israeli weapons manufacturer that makes components for US cluster bombs would be considered by the US to be "vital for its national security interest".

h/t Glenn Greenwald for the State Dept link.

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