Koch, BP, Exxon Among Clients Of Firm Responsible For Analysis In State Dept. Keystone Report

[hatrack]

The State Department's recent conclusion that the Keystone XL pipeline "is unlikely to have a substantial impact" on the rate of Canada's oil sands development was based on analysis provided by two consulting firms with ties to oil and pipeline companies that could benefit from the proposed project.

EnSys Energy has worked with ExxonMobil, BP and Koch Industries, which own oil sands production facilities and refineries in the Midwest that process heavy Canadian crude oil. Imperial Oil, one of Canada's largest oil sands producers, is a subsidiary of Exxon.

ICF International works with pipeline and oil companies but doesn't list specific clients on its website. It declined to comment on the Keystone, referring questions to the State Department.

EnSys president Martin Tallett said he couldn't talk about the proposed pipeline, but he pointed out that in addition to working for the oil industry, his company also works for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Energy and the World Bank.

EDIT

http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20130306/keystone-xl-eis-state-department-transcanada-oil-tar-sands-industry-ensys-energy-koch-brothers-exxonmobil-bp-obama

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. But of course all those good people are completely unbiased!

[2naSalit]

2. Of course! nt

[FirstLight]

3. that's it, I'm done

nothing we vote for or want makes a difference anymore. It's all just corporate totalitarianism now, the rest is a sham...

[wtmusic]

4. KR.

State should be consulting one source alone for this report: the EPA. That's their purpose.

If the EPA doesn't have the resources, they need to get the resources. Relying on industry to provide answers (whatever they might be) is insane.

[glinda]

5. Liars. I am so sick of liars in our Government and everywhere.

[Scuba]

6. Sure a good thing we have a Democratic President. Oh wait, never mind.

[limpyhobbler]

7. Business as usual in DC. Everybody's gettin' paid.

[XemaSab]

8. Not to come down on the side of Big Oil, but that's how consulting works

My current employer had me working on a natural gas pipeline, my employer before that had me working on massive hydropower projects, my employer before that's number one client was Chevron, my employer before that had me working for WalMart, and my employer before that had me working for Pacific Lumber Company.

Any consulting firm big enough to handle a project of this magnitude is going to have contacts with evil companies. That's just the name of the game.

[GliderGuider]

9. Good point. nt

[Nihil]

10. The consulting company, yes. The key individual consultants who were stated to be "impartial", no.

As you say, any consulting company big enough to handle the job has to have dealt
with the bad guys as well as the good guys in the past.

That's a little different than the deliberate attempt to hide the fact that several key people
on this ostensibly independent & impartial report for the State department explicitly worked
for the companies involved in the bid - one even on the KXL pipeline project itself!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/112738030

It's taking "the name of the game" and not just rebranding it but changing the rules,
the teams and the shape of the ball whilst maintaining a facade of reliable propriety.