For Immediate Release: Contact: Jane Kleeb,
January 30, 2014 jane@boldnebraska.org, (402) 705-3622
TransCanada’s Misplaced Confidence and Misleading Tactics
Lincoln, NE — Canadian government and industry officials are, once again, expressing confidence that the forthcoming State Department analysis of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline will bolster the case for approval of the export pipeline.
This is nothing new.
In July 2010, TransCanada announced that it did not expect significant delays to approval for the pipeline. By February 2011, they were optimistic that it would be approved by the end of 2011. In January 2012, they were “confident a deal will be in place with Nebraska by September.” TransCanada was also sure in early 2013 that approval for their permit would come within a few months. And last fall, they were convinced State’s final analysis would be finished by Thanksgiving, and then by Christmas, and then by New Year’s.
Though they may get media attention every time announce their optimism, there’s no reason to assume this most recent pronouncement is anything more than the bluster they’ve been exhibiting for years now, with no pipeline to show for it.
In fact, the Administration now has everything they need to reject the pipeline. In his June 2013 speech on climate, President Obama set a climate test for the pipeline, saying that he would only approve it “if this project doesn’t significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution.”
Everyone from independent climate scientists and the EPA to the fossil fuel industry itself agrees that building Keystone XL would dramatically expand development of Canadian tar sands and contribute significantly to global climate change. TransCanada and the Canadian government can project as much confidence as they want, but given this consensus, and Secretary Kerry’s history as a climate champion, the tide seems to be turning against them.
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