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getting pressure from within his own party to give the project a green
light.
In 2008 Paul Elliot, who now serves as TransCanada’s chief
Washington lobbyist for Keystone XL, served as a national campaign
manager for Hillary Clinton’s presidential race. Additionally, as was
discovered by anti-Tar Sands activists from Nebraska as they prepared for
hearings on the matter at the State Department, the hearings were being
held by a company called Cardno Entrix. It turns out that Cardno Entrix is
contracted to run the environmental-review for the Keystone XL pipeline,
but lists TransCanada as one of its major clients on its website.
“The pipeline company recommended the firm they wanted to review
them, a firm that listed the pipeline company as one of their major
clients,” writes Bill McKibben and Naomi Klein. “Perhaps–just perhaps–
that explains why the review found that Keystone XL would have ‘limited
adverse environmental impacts,’ a finding somewhat at odds with the
conclusion of 20 of the nation’s top scientists who wrote the president this
summer to say it would be an environmental disaster.”
It appears that TransCanada is doing all it can to impact the Obama
administration’s decision on the matter by hiring a former Democratic
campaign manager, and has certainly pushed Obama’s State Department to
hire a company with close ties to the very company it is supposed to
independently review. Additionally, some have criticized the job numbers
for the project. In 2010, TransCanada said that, “During construction,
Keystone XL would create 13,000 jobs and further produce 118,000 spinoff
jobs.” But a report from Cornell University says these numbers are
inflated, writing that the project will create no more than 2,500-4,650
temporary construction jobs for two years based on the data TransCanada
has given the State Department.
Not only will hundreds of thousands of jobs not be created, and not
only will tax revenue not help the country get back on track, the majority
of the oil from the tar sands will end up not even being used in the United
States. Debunking these myths are just one part of the fight for a clean
energy future.