Calling All Keystone (XL) Cops! The Pipeline Hits More Snags
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Three weeks back, when we last checked in on the lively, sometimes absurd fight over the Keystone XL pipeline, opponents of the project had just raised alarm about undisclosed conflicts of interest between ERM, a U.K.-based company the U.S. State Department has relied on to assess the potential environmental impact of the proposed line, and TransCanada, the company that wants to build it. Previous conflict of interest allegations about the Keystone XL had led to congressional complaints and an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General. The new disclosures raised the prospect that the project might be further delayed by a new ethics inquiry.
Since then the saga has featured still more twists, including: