By December 13, 2017 Read More →

Anti-pipeline group Bold Nebraska rallying against Keystone XL

Bold Nebraska

Environmental group Bold Nebraska is gearing up to fight the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline project. Bold Nebraska Twitter photo.

Bold Nebraska meeting with landowners along approved route

Bold Nebraska, the Cornhusker state’s main anti-pipeline group, is gearing up to fight TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline project which was recently approved by Nebraska regulators.

The group is speaking with landowners it says were not given a voice in the regulatory process.

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These landowners are situated along the alternate route that the Nebraska Public Service Commission approved and were not included in discussions with TransCanada.  The company did consult with landowners along their preferred route.

According to Reuters, if Bold Nebraska succeeds, the group could put up roadblocks to the controversial project which will carry Alberta crude to US refineries.  They could press regulators to revisit the company’s application or take regulators to court if they refuse.

The head of Bold Nebraska, Jane Kleeb, says starting on Wednesday, her group is meeting with the affected landowners and hopes to rally opposition against the pipeline.

“We hope to begin the education process with landowners so they understand this is a lifetime easement for a one-time payment,” she told Reuters. “We aim to engage at least 20 per cent of the new landowners in the legal landowner group.”

Keystone XL has been mired in controversy since it was first proposed about 10 years ago.  Environmentalists have made the pipeline a symbol of their fight against fossil fuels and global warming.

Shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump reversed former President Barack Obama’s decision to block the project.

Jane Kleeb, head of Bold Nebraska, is gearing up to take on Keystone XL. In These Times photo.

Bold Nebraska says it has signed up about 100 landowners along the original route against Keystone XL.  The group says a number of ranchers, concerned about spills poisoning their cattle have voiced opposition to the project.

TransCanada argues the pipeline will be good for the American economy and will be run safely.  Reuters reports that the company has about 90 per cent support among landowners living along the preferred route.

At a hearing on Tuesday, lawyers for Keystone XL opponents argued that Nebraska regulators did not have the authority to approve the alternate route and were only allowed to rule on the company’s proposed path.

One of the lawyers, David Domina, said the landowners along the approved path were not included in the regulatory process and that social and environmental impacts were not properly studied.

TransCanada has asked the Nebraska Public Service Commission to allow it to amend its application retroactively to avoid legal challenges.  The commission is considering the company’s request.

 

 

 

 

 

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