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Nobel winners enter Keystone XL fray Opponents include Dalai Lama, prompting Alberta energy minister to question what spiritual leader knows about oil sands, pipeline Gary Park For Petroleum News
The Keystone XL drama is attracting big-name actors along with warnings that United States-Canada relations are being tarnished in the process.
The latest to claim center stage are nine Nobel laureates on the anti-pipeline side and, on the other, Canada’s ambassador to the United States Gary Doer and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, whose U.S. counterpart Secretary of State Hilary Clinton will deliver the final make-or-break ruling later this year.
The Nobel winners — the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu among them — have heaped pressure on President Barack Obama to reject TransCanada’s proposal.
In the highest-profile push yet to block the shipment of oil sands crude from Alberta to Texas Gulf Coast refineries, they have insisted XL would “endanger the entire planet.”
They urged Obama to turn his attention to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels that are blamed for greenhouse gas emissions and climate change and turn his efforts to renewable energy.
“The night you were nominated president, you told the world that under your leadership — and working together — the rise of oceans will begin to slow and the planet will begin to heal,” said a letter to Obama.
“You spoke of creating a clean energy economy. This is a critical moment to make good on that pledge and making a lasting contribution to the health and well being of everyone on this planet.”
The laureates said the “brave” protesters outside the White House, 1,200 of whom have been arrested, have made a compelling case for the “power of non-violence in facing authority (and) “represent millions” in Alberta and six U.S. states whose lives and livelihoods would be affected by the construction of XL.
Canada optimistic Canada’s Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver countered that his government is unconcerned about the protests and is increasingly optimistic the U.S. government will approve the pipeline, while Alberta Energy Minister Ron Liepert scoffed at the deployment of high-profile names.
“I can’t imagine that the Dalai Lama knows very much about the oil sands or the Keystone XL pipeline, but it’s another indication of (opponents) dragging out the stars,” he said.
A TransCanada spokesman said the Nobel laureates have been swayed by “professional activists (and that) all kinds of games and stunts are going to be played until a decision is made and likely afterwards.”
He said the signatories have failed to recognize that much oil imported by the U.S. comes from countries that are violent, undemocratic and have weak measures in place to protect the environment, workers and human rights.
TransCanada Chief Executive Officer Russ Girling said Nebraskans have taken the opportunity to ensure that Keystone XL will be “built to a safety level not seen before in a pipeline in the United States and that includes selecting the right route.”
He estimated that C$1.7 billion has already been spent on the C$7 billion project, with 90 percent of the land right of way secured, about 1,600 miles of 36-inch pipeline ordered, and labor and construction contracts in place.
TransCanada: pipeline routine “There is no way we could ever have predicted that we would become a lightning rod for a debate around fossil fuels and the development of the Canadian oil sands,” he told the National Post, noting that the United States already has about 200,000 miles of similar pipe in place. “The pipeline itself is routine. It’s something we do every day.
“This is not a debate of oil versus alternative energy. This is a debate about whether you want to get your oil from Canada or Venezuela or Nigeria.”
Ambassador Doer told a Platts Energy Week conference that Canada wants to continue being a reliable supplier of oil to the United States, but can also use ports on its three coasts to ship oil elsewhere in the world.
He said the arguments against Keystone XL have relied on outdated facts about the oil sands claiming 10 barrels of water are used for each barrel of oil produced from the bitumen deposits, when the actual consumption is now about 1 to 2 barrels.
Baird said that if the United States “declines the promise that Keystone XL represents, there are many other countries and many other markets for our oil. New emerging economic forces in the Asia-Pacific region offer tremendous opportunities for all kinds of Canadian companies.”
He said Canada’s relationship with China is a “clear priority” and he will be working to “strengthen” the trade, energy and governance ties.”
Tommy Moffat, a Republican state senator in Mississippi, told a Calgary business conference he was not ready to predict approval for XL, but extended “my apologies to our Canadian friends and colleagues for the bruising that our long-time relationship has taken” during the XL debate.
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