The pro-Keystone XL forces are rallying, with one surprise addition.
In an Oct. 9 letter to the White House, 165 giants of U.S. business “expressed strong support for approval of the project” and tried to shift the spotlight away from celebrities such as Robert Redford, Neil Young and Daryl Hannah.
Unexpected was a solid endorsement of the pipeline by British Columbia Premier Christy Clark, reinforcing the conciliatory tone she has struck in her recent dealing with her Alberta counterpart Alison Redford.
Despite her hard line on plans by Enbridge and Kinder Morgan to run pipelines across British Columbia to tanker terminals on the Pacific coast, Clark advocated on behalf of Keystone XL during her visit to Washington, D.C., earlier in October.
Redford said that “every single time that we as Canadians can make these points in the United States it’s important and I’m really pleased that (Clark) was able to do that.”
She said that opening new markets is critical to Alberta’s export-oriented economy and there is the need for new pipelines, for a social license to operate and to invest in value-added products so that the province exports more than raw commodities.
Corporate letter
Signatures on the corporate letter to President Barack Obama included chief executive officers Randall Stephenson, AT&T; Marijn Dekkers, Bayer; Jeffrey Immelt, GFE; James McNerney, Boeing; David Cole, Honeywell International; Greg Brown, Motorola; and Eric Spiegel, Siemens.
“We know your administration is carefully considering the environmental risks associated with Keystone XL, as it should,” the leaders said.
“Those risks, like those incumbent in many other significant projects, must — and can — be managed, through appropriate regulation and stewardship.
“Keystone XL will meet nearly 60 special conditions set by regulators to minimize risk and ultimately the net environmental impact of the pipeline would be minimal.
Inflection point in economy
The signatories said the U.S. economy is at an inflection point and whether growth remains modest or picks up speed depends on maintaining investor confidence and strengthening America’s competitiveness. They said the verdict on Keystone XL will affect both.
A State Department official said hopes of issuing a final environmental impact statement in October have been stalled because staff in various agencies have been furloughed.
Alberta’s Redford said the high-level U.S. corporate backing “speaks to many of the same points that our government, the federal government and provincial premiers (of all political stripes) have raised with American decision makers on this important project.”
