Patrick Daniel knows he is in trouble. The CEO of Enbridge, the company that wants to build the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline from Alberta to British Colombia to export the dirty tar sands, admits that his opponents have “seized control of the debate”. And he is left playing catch up, trying belatedly to spin a … Read More
Pipelines
The unethical reality of tar sands oil and the Keystone XL pipeline
Recently, the Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature, Mike Flood, spoke with the York News-Times about his views on the Keystone XL pipeline, which, as proposed, would run through environmentally sensitive parts of Nebraska. Amidst expressing lukewarm concern about the pipeline’s safety, Flood repeated an oft-used but oft-refuted argument for supporting the pipeline. He asserted that tar … Read More
Tar sands tax loophole highlighted in two more reports
A couple months ago, Oil Change International worked with Earth Track and NRDC to expose a huge loophole that allows tar sands producers to avoid paying their fair share into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. Oil producers generally pay into this fund, but through a exemption in the tax code, tar sands oil producers … Read More
A solemn anniversary, scary new report, and hope around the corner in the fight against big oil
Today marks the two-year anniversary of a massive oil spill into the Kalamazoo River in Marshall, Michigan…a spill whose effects are still being felt in many ways today. By the time the spill was stopped in the late summer of 2010, some 1.2 million gallons of corrosive tar sands oil had been released into the … Read More
Dirty Energy Money Buys Yet Another Keystone Vote
Those Representatives voting in favor of the inclusion of the Keystone XL pipeline in a transportation bill currently being negotiated by both chambers have taken over 11 times more money from Big Oil during this Congress – almost $6 million – than those opposed.
US Pipeline Regulations “Inadequate”
One thing is certain: pipelines have become a political hot potato. Over the next few months the debate about Keystone XL will surely dog the Presidential debate like a bad penny. But as the furore over Keystone has grown it is easy to forget about the state of other pipelines in the US and how … Read More
New KXL Route “Within Weeks”
And so the fight over the Keystone XL pipeline goes on. TransCanada plans to refile its application with the U.S. government in the next few weeks, according to Alex Pourbaix, the company’s president of oil and pipelines. The new alternative pipeline route will avoid the ecologically sensitive Sandhills and the Ogallala Aquifer, a crucial water … Read More
Over 600,000 Say No to KXL
Once again it is the many versus the money. Starting at noon yesterday, a coalition of thirty or so environmental organisations, including Oil Change International (OCI) and 350.org set out to gather at least 500,000 signatures with 24 hours to stop the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. The initiative came as a response to moves within … Read More
Keystone XL Becoming Key Election Issue
November may still seem a long way off, but increasingly it is looking like the the controversial Keystone XL pipeline is going to become a key Presidential election issue. David Wilkins, who was George Bush’s ambassador to Canada from 2005 to 2009, is one of the many people who think this is the case. “It’s … Read More
TransCanada “Violating Laws” Over KXL Jobs Claim
Later today the Republican Senator John Hoeven will try to introduce legislation seeking to bypass President Barack Obama and empower Congress to approve the highly controversial Keystone XL pipeline. Hoeven’s bill, that would seek to take control of the Keystone decision, looks like a political non-starter. To become law it would have to be approved … Read More