For Immediate Release: October 17, 2014
Contact: Jane Kleeb, Jane@boldnebraska.org, 402-705-3622
Mark Westlund, mark.westlund@sierraclub.org, 415-977-5719
Luísa Abbott Galvão, labbottgalvao@foe.org, 202-222-0716
Josh Mogerman, jmogerman@nrdc.org, 312-651-7909
TransCanada Rewarded for Reckless Tar Sands Development
with Bizarre Climate Action Award
In press release that reads like satire, TransCanada announced yesterday that they’ve been “recognized as world leader for corporate action on climate change” by an organization called CDP, apparently as a reward for fighting tooth and nail to build the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and recklessly expand development of the dirtiest, most carbon-heavy fuel source on the planet with no regard for the impact on the climate or the land and water along risky pipeline routes. That’s not to mention their history of misleading and bullying landowners along their pipeline routes and their egregious safety record.
Jane Kleeb, who has led the fight to stop the Keystone pipeline and protect Nebraska landowners from TransCanada’s shameless and destructive business practices, commented on their award: “It’s fascinating to learn that TransCanada’s relentless push to foul our land, water, and climate has earned them the title of ‘world leader’ on climate, and that they actually have a vice-president dedicated to ‘Community and Sustainability.’ I’m very curious to know where that person was when TransCanada was threating landowners with seizure of their land through eminent domain the first day they rode into town, or when they were asking landowners to pray with a fake preacher before offering them a fraction of what their land was worth. I wonder where they were when inspectors found hundreds of dangerous defects in Keystone’s southern leg. Were they being ‘world leaders’ on climate and the environment then?”
“The only thing TransCanada is a leader in is exploiting the world’s dirtiest oil,” said Luísa Abbott Galvão, of Friends of the Earth.
“Tar sands are the dirtiest, most carbon intensive oil on earth, releasing up to 22% more carbon pollution than conventional oil. TransCanada, as a company that seeks to expand market access for this climate-polluting fuel, is a climate laggard,” said Kate Colarulli of Sierra Club’s Beyond Oil campaign. “The State Department, the U.S. EPA, climate scientists, and even Wall Street and industry analysts agree that TransCanada’s Keystone XL tar sands pipeline will create massive amounts of carbon pollution and TransCanada’s new proposed pipeline, Energy East, is a climate disaster. Rejecting TransCanada’s tar sands pipelines are some of the most important decisions we can make to protect our kids from a future filled with wildfires, droughts, floods and super storms caused by climate change.”
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