State Department
-
Keystone XL construction to begin next year, but indigenous activists vow to keep fighting
The contentious decade-long battle between indigenous communities and TransCanada continues.
-
Climate leadership was scrubbed from the State Department website
This signals the U.S. will play a more passive role in international climate actions.
-
All you need to know about TransCanada’s new plan for Keystone XL
Keystone XL lives! TransCanada announced its next two moves in its fight to get the tar-sands pumping pipeline built, and its strategy now involves splitting the project into two parts.
-
Critical List: State Department working to reduce emissions; transportation bill vote delayed
The State Department is going to announce this morning a program to reduce shorter-lived greenhouse gases, like methane. The House won’t vote on Republicans’ transportation bill of horrors quite yet. Worldwide, 92 percent of freshwater water goes to agriculture. Mining in Mongolia — good for China, maybe not the best idea for the desert environment […]
-
Critical List: IG blesses State’s Keystone work; fair trade gasoline
The State Department’s inspector general has delivered his report on the Keystone XL environmental review process, and concludes that TransCanada did not improperly influence the assessment. The gist of the report is that the review wasn’t corrupt, just incompetent. Two nuclear new reactors have been approved, the first ones since 1978. The Pennsylvania government could […]
-
Why is the State Dept. pushing coal on a tiny Eastern European country?
State and the World Bank are pushing a plan to open a heavily polluting coal plant in Kosovo -- saddling the struggling country with debt and producing much more power than it even needs.
-
State Dept. official overstates Keystone jobs by a factor of 10
The State Department wants to set the record straight: When they said the Keystone XL pipeline would create 35,000 jobs, they were entirely correct, in some kind of number system where 100 equals 1,000. Otherwise, they may have exaggerated a little. In testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday, Assistant Secretary of State Dr. […]
-
State Dept. might reroute Keystone XL
The State Department seems to be seriously weighing a change in the path that the Keystone XL pipeline would take. A change in the route would be a victory for the pipeline's opponents, but only a partial one. There are two main environmental concerns connected to the pipeline project. One is the potential for spills […]
-
Inspector general will investigate Keystone XL
According to a memo posted by the Natural Resources Defense Council, the State Department's inspector general will conduct an investigation into the Keystone XL permitting process. Fourteen members of Congress requested an audit two weeks ago, citing irregularities in the environmental review for the pipeline. Just to recap: At TransCanada's suggestion, the State Department hired environmental […]