People, this has got to stop.
LA Times reported yesterday that President Obama's re-election campaign has hired Broderick Johnson, who was previously paid $240,000 by TransCanada for work on the controversial XL Pipeline Project. The XL pipeline proposes to transport 700,000 barrels/day of Tar Sands crude from Alberta to the Gulf Coast. The US government will soon make a decision whether to allow it. It is being vigorously opposed on the the grounds that development of the tar sands will lead to "game over" on climate and that spills along the pipeline route will present a major environmental hazard.
Yesterday's report from the LA Times presents the familiar, disturbing picture of coziness between lobbyists, TransCanada, and top Dems, this time Obama's re-election effort:
President Obama's reelection campaign has hired a former lobbyist for the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline as a top adviser.
The campaign said that Broderick Johnson, founder and former principal of the communications firm the Collins Johnson Group, would serve as a senior adviser for the campaign. Before founding the firm this spring, he worked for the powerhouse lobbying firm, Bryan Cave LLP, where his clients included Microsoft, Comcast and TransCanada, the company planning to build the $7-billion pipeline to carry crude from Alberta’s oil sands to the Texas Gulf Coast.
Johnson’s federal lobbyist filings indicate that TransCanada paid Bryan Cave at least $240,000 late last year and early this year for Johnson to work on supporting the “submission for a presidential permit for Keystone XL Pipeline.” He lobbied members of Congress, the filings show, as well as the administration and the State Department.
Yesterday's news come on top of similar revelations last month that the State Department followed TransCanada's recommendation in hiring the firm that did an environmental impact study for the department. Per NYT:
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 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 it had previously worked on projects with TransCanada and describes the pipeline company as a “major client” in its marketing materials.
and, further rounding out the corrupt story (yesterday's LA Times link):
TransCanada has hired a phalanx of former Democratic operatives since 2009 to lobby for Keystone XL, including Paul Elliott, the former deputy chairman for Clinton's failed presidential campaign. Recently released emails show that the diplomat working on energy issues at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa had an unusually warm and collaborative relationship with Elliott. Another top State Department official worked with the Canadians to hone their message about the environmental impacts of developing oil sands. The outside contractor for the State Department’s environmental impact statement also counted TransCanada among its clients. The document was harshly criticized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Isn't that special? Change we can believe in ....
Obama really needs a wake-up call. Despite his campaign promises around climate change, these actions demonstrate that he is unwilling to use his office to buck the "business as usual" mindset which is leading us to climate catastrophe. Instead it's the same old claque of polluters, lobbyists, and pliant pols. Yuck.
I hope people can come out on November 6 with 350.org to encircle the White House and remind him of his promises to about this being the moment when the earth starts to heal. He needs to work for the people who voted for him, not for the people who want to make a buck by frying the earth.
We have to stop this crap!
And further news about the speed of climate change - yesterdays Climate Progress included this remarkable graphic showing just how extreme the summer 2010 heat wave in Russia was. We are really getting into unknown territory here.
This is what awaits if we continue merrily down the road of sticking with fossil fuels and letting their lobbyists make policy.