E-mail Exchange Suggests Potential Pipeline Bias

The State Department released a series of e-mails Monday that show a friendly relationship between a TransCanada lobbyist and an employee of the State Department working in Ottawa, according to The Washington Post.

State Department official Marja D. Verloop oversees energy, science and environmental issues at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa. In a series of e-mails exchanged with TransCanada’s Washington lobbyist Paul Elliot, Verloop appears to be cheering on Elliot in his attempts to gain congressional support for TransCanada’s Keystone Pipeline Extension, The Washington Post is reporting.

The emails were friendly in tone and included emoticons, according to Fox News. In a September 2010 e-mail soon after Elliott announced that Sen. Max Baucus (D., Mont.) supported the pipeline expansion, Verloop wrote: “Go Paul! Baucus support holds clout.”

James Millar, a TransCanada spokesperson, told MSNBC that Elliott “was and is simply doing his job – no laws have been broken.”

Wendy Nassmacher, a State Department spokesperson, disputed the notion that the e-mails show a pro-pipeline bias. Nassmacher told The New York Times in an e-mail, “We are committed to a fair, transparent and thorough process. Throughout the process we have been in communication with industry as well as environmental groups, both in the United States and in Canada.”

Still, others continue to question the relationship Elliot, who was current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s national deputy campaign manager during her presidential run in 2008, has with the State Department.

“What differentiates this case is the potential for conflict of interest. That really raises eyebrows,” Jake Wiens, an investigator with the Project on Government Oversight in Washington, told The New York Times. 

An environmental group opposed to TransCanada Corporation’s planned Keystone Pipeline expansion, had the e-mails released through a Freedom of Information request, according to Fox News.

The group, Friends of the Earth, says the e-mails show an unfair U.S. bias toward the project, according to MSNBC. This is the second batch of documents Friends of the Earth has had released. 

Environmental groups argue that the pipeline, which could carry 700,000 barrels a day from Alberta to the Gulf Coast of Texas, would release dangerously high amounts of greenhouse gases and disrupt ecosystems, The New York Times is reporting.

In recent months, TransCanada has had several small pipeline leaks. Environmentalists warn that the abrasive nature of bitumen petroleum from the oil sands is hard on pipelines, MSNBC is reporting.

Supporters of the project say the pipeline would increase U.S. energy security, and some worry that if the State Department rules against the line, Canada will export the crude oil elsewhere, The Washington Post is reporting.

A federal decision on the TransCanada pipeline is expected by the end of the year, according to Fox News. 

Photo by lindsey gee.