Forget About It! The Fix Is In

Earlier today the Typepad website was down, which prevented me from posting — Dave

On August 30, 2011 I wrote about the Keystone XL Pipeline, which will bring tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada to refineries on the Gulf coast. The post's title was Another Pointless Climate Protest. At that time, climate activists (including reader Gail) were protesting the construction of the pipeline, which would facilitate greater exploitation of the tar sands, leading to greater CO₂ emissions over time. Nothing will ever be done about global warming in my view, so all such protests are exercises in futility.

A few days ago the New York Times reported that the State Department allowed TransCanada, which will build the pipeline, to handpick a company to carry out the environmental impact study required by law.

The State Department assigned an important environmental impact study of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline to a company with financial ties to the pipeline operator, flouting the intent of a federal law meant to ensure an impartial environmental analysis of major projects.

The department allowed TransCanada, the company seeking permission to build the 1,700-mile pipeline from the oil tar sands of northern Alberta to the Gulf Coast in Texas, to solicit and screen bids for the environmental study. At TransCanada’s recommendation, the department hired Cardno Entrix, an environmental contractor based in Houston, even though [Cardno Entrix] had previously worked on projects with TransCanada and describes the pipeline company as a “major client” in its marketing materials...

The subsequent study, released at the end of August, found that the massive pipeline would have “limited adverse environmental impacts” if operated according to regulations. That positive assessment removed one of the last hurdles for approval of the proposed pipeline...

Oliver A. Houck, a law professor at Tulane University and an expert on [the National Environmental Policy Act], said Cardno Entrix should never have been selected to perform the environmental study on Keystone XL because of its relationship with TransCanada and the potential to garner more work involving the pipeline. The company provides a wide ranges of services, including assisting in oil spill response.

Cardno Entrix had a “financial interest in the outcome of the project,” Mr. Houck said, adding, “Their primary loyalty is getting this project through, in the way the client wants.”

The article contains lots of additional useless detail which you can look at if you like. What is the bottom line? The Keystone XL pipeline is going to be built regardless any obstacles environmentalists put up to block it. The environmental impact study was rigged, and any additional roadblocks thrown up will be dealt with in a crooked and ruthless way.

A lot of outright theft went on during W's initiation and incompetent prosecution of the war in Iraq. Many billions of dollars appropriated for the war went missing. No doubt some of it ended up in the hands of private contractors, but a lot of it simply can't be accounted for. The government is not noticeably different under President Hopey-Changey. We are living during the ends times of a waning Empire. Corruption is the rule, not the exception. This will never change.

The Keystone XL pipeline? Forget about it! The fix is in. The rule of law is gone. Yet, so many well-meaning Americans, like those opposing the pipeline, continue to play these games, pretending that the political system works, or can be made to work. Are they naive? Deluded? Or is it somehow more comforting to continue to act as though their actions count for something?  Trying is better than not trying. God loves a fool.

Comments

[agog]

The pipeline, if it must be built, should be to eastern Canada.

The lack of foresight on the part of Canadian politicians doesn't inspire confindence.