State Department defends Keystone XL pipeline review

The State Department disclosed information Wednesday about its review of the controversial Keystone XL oil sands pipeline that’s aimed at disputing claims of pro-industry bias.

State is under fire from environmentalists and some Democrats who claim the department has tilted the playing field toward TransCanada Corp., which is seeking to build a 1,700-mile pipeline to bring crude from Alberta’s oil sands to Gulf Coast refineries.

But State spokeswoman Victoria Nuland on Wednesday sought to show that the department has had an open door for green groups and other parties.

“We’ve held more than 25 meetings with interested groups. Of these, 10 have been with environment groups and NGOs, including Friends of the Earth and the Sierra Club, both of whom attended at least five of our meetings. And we’ve also met with Canadian NGOs, including the group Water Matters,” Nuland said.

“We’ve also had 11 meetings with industry and industry groups including TransCanada, Canada Energy Pipeline, and associations in Canada and the United States,” she added.

State is holding a public hearing on the pipeline in Washington, D.C., on Friday and plans to make a final decision on the proposal by the end of the year.

Nuland, according to a transcript of the briefing, also said:

We’ve had three meetings focused on the interests of native peoples, both Canadians and Americans, groups like the Absentee Shawnee of Oklahoma, and Cree, one of the largest groups of First Nation citizens in Canada. And we’ve also had three meetings with Canadian officials. Our Embassy in Ottawa has had more than 150 meetings on this subject with a similar breakdown of groups: Canadian Government, civil society, interest groups, NGOs, environmentalists, industry, and Native American – Native Canadian peoples.