The State Department has recently found itself to be the recipient of unwanted attention as a result of a Freedom of Information Act request.
The publicity comes from reports regarding the State Department’s relationship with the Canadian energy giant TransCanada. The accusations focus on a FOIA request from environmental advocates Friends of the Earth regarding the proposed construction of a new 1,700 mile pipeline that would run from Western Canada through the United States and end in Texas – the Keystone XL project.
In response to their FOIA request Friends of the Earth received an array of documents that indicate what the Friends believe to be the presence of an inappropriate relationship between senior State Department officials and TransCanada employees. The most controversial of the correspondences are between an American Embassy employee working in Ottawa on energy and environmental issues, Marja Verloop, and pipeline lobbyist Paul Elliott. These point to a conspiratorial relationship, in which Ms. Verloop heaps praise upon Mr. Elliott after TransCanada received support from Senator Max Baucus.
The State Department, on the other hand, claims that the documents obtained by Friends of the Earth only tell one side of the story and that Ms. Verloop maintained equal relationships with environmental groups as well as energy industry representatives. The State Department pledges that they will continue to keep the construction of the Keystone XL project transparent and even-handed, despite Mr. Elliott’s role in Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential bid.
The suspicion of government imbededness with the energy industry is not entirely shocking. Declassified 1970’s documents of Kissinger’s negotiations with the Canadians show that the US government has a history of heavy-handed interest in the energy sector. (more…)
