[Vision2020] Megaloads

[Art Deco]

Congressman speaks out against Keystone

Says pipeline would make U.S. a Canadian 'sewer'

By Sheldon Alberts, Postmedia NewsMay 28, 2011



Dennis Kucinich urged U.S. officials take their time studying the environmental impact of the Keystone XL project.
Photograph by: Yuri Gripas, Reuters, Postmedia News
A former Democratic presidential candidate has compared the diluted bitumen from Alberta's oilsands to nuclear waste and says a proposed pipeline to Texas would turn the United States into a "sewer" for Canadian oil.

The remarks from Ohio congressman Dennis Kucinich highlight the increasingly heated debate on Capitol Hill over Calgary-based TransCanada Corp.'s proposed Keystone XL pipeline, now under review by the Obama administration.

Just this week, congressional Republicans -frustrated by the pace of decision-making on the project -introduced legislation to force the State Department to make a final ruling no later than Nov. 1.

But Kucinich, during a meeting this week with a travelling contingent of First Nations leaders from Canada, appealed to Democrats to urge officials to take their time evaluating the environmental impact of the 2,750-kilometre-long Keystone XL project.

"Those of us who learn about this need to quickly let the State Department know -slow down. What's the rush?" Kucinich said.

After reviewing maps showing the pipeline's proposed route -from Alberta through Saskatchewan, Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas -Kucinich said he was alarmed over the "pristine areas with fragile ecologies that will be devastated" by the pipeline if it is built.

"It reminds me of maps I saw 16 years ago in the States, where they wanted to transport nuclear waste through populated areas, and it was only an outcry on the part of the American people, when they started to see the threat, that the policy had to change," Kucinich said.

"We cannot trust the oil interests to do the right thing for the economy, for the environment. We know that," added Kucinich, who mounted unsuccessful bids for the White House in 2004 and 2008 and is a prominent member of his party's liberal wing.

"We saw what happened when we let the oil interests get ahead of the regulation of their industry in the Gulf of Mexico. We are not going to let them turn the rest of North America into a sewer through the tarsands project."

Supporters of the Keystone XL project denounced Kucinich's remarks and said they reflect a lack of understanding about the pipeline and the value of oilsands to U.S. energy security.

"What incredibly irresponsible comments to make," said David MacLean, vicepresident of the Alberta Enterprise Group, which this week led a trade mission to Washington to promote oilsands development to members of Congress.

The industry group met with several high-profile Republican lawmakers, including Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, the ranking Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee.

"Everybody understood how important, and big, the oilsands can be," said MacLean, whose group counts TransCanada among its members.

"And almost universally among Hill staffers and congressmen and congressional leaders, we found significant support for the oilsands. They see the value. They get it."

The State Department, which has the authority to approve or deny the pipeline, has set a June 6 deadline for public comments on a supplemental draft environmental statement it conducted on the Keystone XL proposal.

________________________________________
Wayne A. Fox
1009 Karen Lane
PO Box 9421
Moscow, ID  83843

waf at moscow.com
208 882-7975
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20110531/95ef44cb/attachment-0001.html 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/gif
Size: 3504 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20110531/95ef44cb/attachment-0001.gif 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/octet-stream
Size: 102042 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20110531/95ef44cb/attachment-0001.obj