Environmental groups say newly released e-mails between U.S. State Department officials and a lobbyist for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline reveal a disturbing level of “complicity” and a bias by the regulators who will soon decide the fate of the project. The e-mails, the second batch to be obtained by the group Friends of the Earth through a Freedom of Information Act request, reveal at times an almost collaborative relationship between Marja D. Verloop, an energy and environment counselor for the State Department, and Paul Elliott, a lobbyist representing TransCanada, the company looking to build the 1,800-mile pipeline that would deliver crude oil from Alberta’s tar sands to the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast. In one exchange, Verloop congratulates Elliott over a recent project endorsement by U.S. Sen. Max Baucus (D-Montana). “Go Paul!” she wrote. “Baucus support holds clout.” Damon Moglen, director of climate and energy projects for Friends of the Earth, said the e-mails suggest that the agency sees itself as “a facilitator of TransCanada’s plans.” The State Department, which will have final approval of the pipeline, said in August that the project would have “limited adverse environmental effects” if operated according to regulations.
E-Mails Reflect U.S. Bias In Favor of Tar Sands Pipeline, Group Says
More From E360
-
Food & Agriculture
In Uganda, Deadly Landslides Force an Agricultural Reckoning
-
Energy
Why U.S. Geothermal May Advance, Despite Political Headwinds
-
Food & Agriculture
In War Zones, a Race to Save Key Seeds Needed to Feed the World
-
Climate
Lightning Strikes the Arctic: What Will It Mean for the Far North?
-
RIVERS
A Win for Farmers and Tribes Brings New Hope to the Klamath
-
Solutions
Deconstructing Buildings: The Quest for New Life for Old Wood
-
NATURAL DEFENSES
How Restored Wetlands Can Protect Europe from Russian Invasion
-
Solutions
Birds vs. Wind Turbines: New Research Aims to Prevent Deaths
-
FORESTS
Cambodian Forest Defenders at Risk for Exposing Illegal Logging
-
OPINION
The ‘Green’ Aviation Fuel That Would Increase Carbon Emissions
-
CONSERVATION
Out of the Wild: How A.I. Is Transforming Conservation Science
-
Energy
China’s Mega Dam Project Poses Big Risks for Asia’s Grand Canyon