[Vision2020] TransCanada Pipeline Foes See U.S. Bias in E-Mails

[Art Deco]

a.. 


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

October 3, 2011
TransCanada Pipeline Foes See U.S. Bias in E-Mails
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
A State Department official provided Fourth of July party invitations, subtle coaching and cheerleading, and inside information about Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton's meetings to a Washington lobbyist for a Canadian company seeking permission from the department to build a pipeline that would carry crude from the oil sands of Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. 

E-mails released Monday in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the environmental group Friends of the Earth paint a picture of a sometimes warm and collaborative relationship between the lobbyist for the pipeline company, Trans-Canada, and officials in the State Department, the agency responsible for evaluating and approving the billion-dollar project. 

The exchanges provide a rare glimpse into how Washington works and the access familiarity can bring. The 200 pages are the second batch of documents and e-mails released so far. 

They also offer insight into the company's strategy, not revealed publicly before. TransCanada lobbyists exchanged e-mails with State Department officials in July about their intention to drop their request to operate the Keystone XL pipeline at higher pressures than normally allowed in the United States to win political support, but then suggested they would reapply for the exception once the project had been cleared. 

"You see officials who see it as their business not to be an oversight agency but as a facilitator of TransCanada's plans," said Damon Moglen, the director of the climate and energy project for Friends of the Earth. While the e-mails refer to multiple meetings between TransCanada officials and assistant secretaries of state, he said, such access was denied to environmentalists seeking input, who had only one group meeting at that level. 

Environmental groups argue that the 1,700-mile pipeline, which could carry 700,000 barrels a day from Alberta to the Gulf Coast of Texas, would result in unacceptably high emissions and disrupt pristine ecosystems. 

Wendy Nassmacher, a State Department spokeswoman, disputed that the e-mails showed a pro-pipeline bias. "We are committed to a fair, transparent and thorough process," she said in an e-mail. "Throughout the process we have been in communication with industry as well as environmental groups, both in the United States and in Canada." 

TransCanada's chief Washington lobbyist is Paul Elliott, a top official in Mrs. Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. All of the documents pertain to contacts between Mr. Elliott and government officials. 

"What differentiates this case is the potential for conflict of interest. That really raises eyebrows," said Jake Wiens, an investigator with the Project on Government Oversight in Washington. 

Many of the e-mails released Monday are between Mr. Elliott and Marja Verloop, the counselor for energy and environment at the United States Embassy in Ottawa. 

On Sept. 10, 2010, in response to an e-mail from Mr. Elliott announcing that Senator Max Baucus of Montana was supporting the pipeline, Ms. Verloop wrote, "Go Paul!" 

In an e-mail to David Jacobson, the United States ambassador to Canada, she described TransCanada as "comfortable and on board" with some developments in the review process. 

In a fragmented exchange, Ms. Verloop wondered whether TransCanada could reapply to use higher pipeline pressures in the future, to which Mr. Elliott replied, "You are correct." Such a request after the State Department signed off on the pipeline would require approval only by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, a small federal agency, bypassing broader political scrutiny. 

Shawn Howard, a spokesman for TransCanada, said Mr. Elliott lobbied the State Department officials as did lobbyists for many environmental groups. "Mr. Elliott was and is simply doing his job," Mr. Howard said. "No laws have been broken." 

The State Department is tasked with granting permission, according to the "national interest," for pipelines that cross national borders and is weighing the environmental impact of Keystone XL against the benefit of expanding the fuel supply for the United States. Its third and final environmental impact statement, released in late August, said the pipeline would have "limited adverse environmental impacts" if operated according to regulations. 

The Environmental Protection Agency, which may offer comments on such pipelines but is not empowered to rule on their authorization, sharply criticized the State Department's previous environmental assessments as inadequate but has not yet weighed in on the August report. 

Though the pipeline would help ensure a stable fuel supply from a friendly neighbor, environmental groups oppose it because much of the crude would be extracted from subterranean oil sands in a process that they say results in heavy emissions and destroys the overlying forests. In addition, the pipeline would go through the Ogallala Aquifer, one of the Great Plains' principal water sources, where a spill could prove disastrous. 

While acknowledging that the extraction produces higher emissions than conventional oil drilling, proponents say that environmental groups exaggerate the difference and that new processes are making it cleaner. 

Some of the e-mails have a cozy tone while others reveal a sometimes tense and conflicted relationship. Officials in Washington repeatedly rejected and parried requests for meetings with TransCanada executives even while trying to placate Canada; Keystone XL has the strong support of the Canadian government and would provide a lucrative new outlet for Canadian oil. 

This year, for example, State Department officials struggled with how to respond to Mr. Elliott's request for a second meeting with Jose W. Fernandez, assistant secretary for economic, energy and business affairs. 

"I definitely think that Fernandez should NOT meet with TransCanada folks at this point," one e-mail said. Another said: "It would be unusual for an Assistant Secretary to meet twice with the same company in such a short time, and we wouldn't be sending a message that we're unwilling to meet since others of us will be meeting with them." 

Environmental groups have long argued that Mr. Elliott's lobbying of the State Department is a conflict of interest since he served as Mrs. Clinton's deputy national campaign director and chief of delegate selection in 2008. 

The department has said the decision about whether to permit the pipeline "is not and will not be influenced by prior relationships that current government officials have had." 

In the first cache of e-mails, made public in September, State Department officials seem at times to advise TransCanada officials on how to maximize their chances for pipeline approval. 

That tone continued on Dec. 14, when Ms. Verloop sent Mr. Elliott a copy of an article raising questions about his conflicts of interest with information about Mrs. Clinton's trip to Canada for a meeting of North American foreign ministers, noting: "Oversaw S's trip to Ottawa yesterday for the trilat. KXL not raised, but Doer flew back on the plane with her." Gary Doer is Canada's ambassador to the United States. 

Mr. Elliott responded by saying the coverage made him ill. 

Ms. Verloop replied: "Sorry for the stomach pains but at the end of the day it's precisely because you have connections that you're sought after and hired." For emphasis, she added a frowning emoticon. 

With a judge now checking to make sure the State Department complies with Friends of the Earth's document requests, Mr. Moglen anticipates more e-mails will be released. A final decision on the pipeline is expected by the end of the year. 


________________________________
Wayne A. Fox
wayne.a.fox at gmail.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20111004/b4fde49f/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: nytlogo153x23.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 1877 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20111004/b4fde49f/attachment-0001.gif>