The Obama administration has betrayed its public commitment to fight climate change by secretly colluding with Canadian oil corporation Enbridge to rush approval of a tar sands pipeline expansion on the scale of Keystone XL.
http://tarsandssolutions.org/campaigns/alberta-clipper
ALBERTA CLIPPER
Enbridge has come up with an illegal scheme to nearly double the capacity of its Alberta Clipper tar sands pipeline putting it on par with Keystone XL. The scheme would ignite a new wave of tar sands imports through Saskatchewan and Manitoba, then cross the US border illegally through Minnesota, ending at the Great Lakes in Superior, WI.
Enbridge wants to bypass the US's Presidential Permitting process by transferring the tar sands crude from Alberta Clipper to another pipeline, called Line 3, just north of the border, then re-transferring it back to Line 67 once it’s crossed into the U.S.
This illegal expansion would significantly increase the amount of toxic, highly polluting tar sands crude being moved into the U.S. and was done without any public consultation.
The scheme makes a mockery of the President’s statements that another tar sands import pipeline – Keystone XL – is in the national interest only if it does not exacerbate the problem of climate change. Yet a State Department official has indicated that they will allow Enbridge to move forward with this plan regardless of the fact the State Department previously said an expansion would require a full environmental review.
This illegal expansion would put Alberta Clipper on par with the controversial Keystone XL pipeline and significantly increase the amount of toxic, highly polluting tar sands crude being moved into the U.S. Tar sands is much more carbon polluting than regular crude, nearly impossible to clean up when it spills as was seen with the tragic 2010 Kalamazoo River spill, and is causing the destruction of pristine Canadian forests and violating the rights of indigenous peoples in Alberta.
This illegal scheme was done with no public notice, and completely undermines the permitting process. This backroom deal between Enbridge and the US State Department is especially troubling given allegations that the State Department has an inappropriately cozy relationship with the oil industry.
Environmentalists are pressuring US Secretary of State John Kerry to recognize that this scheme is not only illegal, but is at odds with his commitment to make meaningful progress combatting climate change.
President Obama and Secretary Kerry have committed to bold action to protect our climate. Allowing a project that expands production of the dirtiest fuel source on the planet to sneak out of environmental review is completely inconsistent with these goals, would tarnish the Administration’s credibility as a world leader on climate, and put countless resources in the Great Lakes region and beyond at risk.
Enbridge slammed for information gaps in Straits oil pipeline report
PRESS CLIPPING: Assurances from Enbridge Energy that the company's twin oil pipelines under the Straits of Mackinac are in "excellent" condition and pose "minimal" risks of a spill are not enough to resolve existing public concerns about the line's potential threat to the Great Lakes and Michigan's economy. That's one of several key concerns outlined in a state pipeline safety task force report released July 14. Among the recommendations are a ban on transport of heavy crude oil like that which Enbridge spilled into the Kalamazoo River in 2010.
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