Massive tar sands oil pipeline no longer sure bet for Big Oil; pivotal Obama administration decision nears

This briefing from Friends of the Earth, dated January 20, 2011, outlines the mounting political, legal, and grassroots opposition to the proposed Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline. It details failures in the State Department's environmental review process, conflicts of interest involving Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and the environmental risks associated with tar sands oil extraction and transport.

• The Keystone XL pipeline, proposed by TransCanada, would transport tar sands oil from Canada through six U.S. states to refineries near Houston, which Friends of the Earth claims would double U.S. dependence on the "dirtiest oil available."
• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave the State Department's draft Environmental Impact Statement for the project its lowest rating, noting a "complete omission of global warming impacts."
• Significant political opposition has emerged, with 51 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and 13 U.S. senators expressing strong concerns about the project's environmental impacts.
• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton faced criticism for stating she was "inclined" to approve the pipeline before the legally mandated environmental review was complete, leading to calls for her recusal.
• Transparency concerns were raised regarding the relationship between the State Department and Paul Elliott, TransCanada's lead lobbyist and a former high-level presidential campaign aide to Secretary Clinton, after the State Department denied a FOIA request for their correspondence.
• Grassroots resistance has intensified in several regions: Nebraska activists are concerned about the Ogallala Aquifer, East Texas landowners are fighting the use of eminent domain, and indigenous First Nations in Canada are protesting the poisoning of water resources.
• Tar sands oil is described as having higher climate-warming emissions and toxic air pollutants than conventional oil; the pipeline's operation would result in emissions equivalent to adding over six million new cars to U.S. roads.

APA

Moore, A. (2011). Massive tar sands oil pipeline no longer sure bet for Big Oil; pivotal Obama administration decision nears. Friends of the Earth. https://foe.org/news/2011-01-massive-tar-sands-oil-pipeline-no-longer-sure-bet-fo/

Chicago

Moore, Alex. Massive tar sands oil pipeline no longer sure bet for Big Oil; pivotal Obama administration decision nears. Friends of the Earth, 2011. https://foe.org/news/2011-01-massive-tar-sands-oil-pipeline-no-longer-sure-bet-fo/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Moore |first1=Alex |title=Massive tar sands oil pipeline no longer sure bet for Big Oil; pivotal Obama administration decision nears |publisher=Friends of the Earth |date=20 January 2011 |url=https://foe.org/news/2011-01-massive-tar-sands-oil-pipeline-no-longer-sure-bet-fo/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{moore2011massive, author = {Moore, Alex}, title = {{Massive tar sands oil pipeline no longer sure bet for Big Oil; pivotal Obama administration decision nears}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth}, year = {2011}, month = jan, url = {https://foe.org/news/2011-01-massive-tar-sands-oil-pipeline-no-longer-sure-bet-fo/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }