Tag Archives: Keystone XL

U.S. rejects Keystone XL: next let’s stop Sabal Trail!

November 6, 2015Economy, LNG, PoliticsBarack Obama, Bill McKibben, Canada, Climate Change, Economy, Free Trade, John Kerry, John S. Quarterman, Justin Trudeau, Keystone XL, Kinder Morgan, LNG, Palmetto Pipeline, Paris, petroleum products, Politics, President, Sabal Trail Transmission, Sierra Club, Sinkhole Trail, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, State Department, Tar Sands, TPP, Trans-Pacific Partnership, TransCanada, United StatesJohn S. Quarterman

Thanks to Bill McKibben and everyone else who made that pipeline an international cause. Now let’s stop Spectra’s Sabal “Sinkhole” Trail and keep Kinder Morgan’s Palmetto pipeline denied. And let’s stop the Trans-Pacific Parternership (TPP) before it can produce more “free trade” countries for LNG export.

Coral Davenport, New York Times, 6 November 2015, Obama Rejects Construction of Keystone XL Oil Pipeline,

President Obama’s denial of the proposed 1,179-mile pipeline, which would have carried 800,000 barrels a day of carbon-heavy petroleum from the Canadian oil sands to the Gulf Coast, comes as he is seeking to build an ambitious legacy on climate change.

“The pipeline would not make a meaningful longterm contribution to our economy,” Mr. Obama said in remarks from the White House.

The move was made ahead of Continue reading U.S. rejects Keystone XL: next let’s stop Sabal Trail! →

Revoke pipeline eminent domain –bill by Nebraska state Senator

March 14, 2015Law, Nebraskaeminent domain, Ernie Chambers, John S. Quarterman, Keystone XL, Law, LB473, Nebraska, Sabal Trail, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, TransCanadaJohn S. Quarterman

It’s time to revoke laws that support the foreign aristocracy of invading fossil fuel companies.

Unicameral Update, 13 March 2015, Bill would revoke eminent domain for pipelines,

Oil and gas companies could no longer exercise eminent domain in Nebraska under a bill heard by the Judiciary Committee March 11.

LB473, introduced by Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers, would repeal two provisions of the Major Oil Pipeline Siting Act: the right of eminent domain granted to oil and gas companies and the requirement that they seek approval of the governor when siting a major oil pipeline….

The act, approved by the Legislature during a 2011 special session, was designed to provide a regulatory framework for siting oil pipelines in the state. It was amended in 2012 to give the governor authority to approve major oil pipeline routes.

Concern over the state’s pipeline regulations was prompted by TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry crude oil from Canada to Gulf Coast oil refineries. The pipeline’s original route would have traversed the Ogallala Aquifer and Nebraska Sandhills.

And why should eminent domain apply anywhere to Spectra Energy’s proposed Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline to LNG export in Florida, through our drinking water Floridan Aquifer?

Chambers said his bill is Continue reading Revoke pipeline eminent domain –bill by Nebraska state Senator →

The EPA’s questions must be given serious thought by FERC –Beth Gordon

April 24, 2014Economy, Environment, FERC, Law, LNGBeth Gordon, Economy, eminent domain, environment, EPA, FERC, FPL, Keystone XL, Law, LNG, Sabal Trail Transmission, Spectra Energy, SpectraBustersJohn S. Quarterman

Published with permission of the author, who stressed she sent this email “Not as a member of Spectrabusters. Just me.” I added a few links. -jsq

From: Beth Gordon
Date: April 24, 2014, 8:15:30 AM EDT
To: John Peconom of FERC
Subject: EPA comments
Dear Mr. Peconum,
Does FERC, or Spectra, intend answer the questions posed by the EPA? I read their posted comments yesterday. They obviously share many people’s feeling that Sabal Trail’s claims don’t add up. Florida doesn’t need this gas. In fact right now, Florida has so much that we store it. Spectra and FPL need this amount of gas for LNG plants for export, obviously. And for the Riviera beach connection to a 46 inch pipeline to run to the Bahamas undersea. Switching over one coal plant doesn’t justify a 3 billion dollar pipeline. Especially where FPL has raised, rather than lowered, electric bills on account of this endeavor.
The EPA’s questions must be given serious thought by FERC before it awards this project, and the eminent domain rights attendant to it. Floridians will see no Continue reading The EPA’s questions must be given serious thought by FERC –Beth Gordon →

Spectra and TransCanada competing in LNG export in British Columbia

April 6, 2014British Columbia, Economy, Environment, Frackingaquifer, British Columbia, Canada, EA, Economy, environment, environmental assessment, export, FPL, Fracking, John S. Quarterman, Keystone XL, LNG, methane, National Energy Board, NEB, Pacific, Sabal Trail, Sabal Trail Transmission, Southeast Market Pipelines Project, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Tar Sands, tariff, tax, TransCanada, Transco, Westcoast Connector Gas Transmission Project, WilliamsJohn S. Quarterman

TransCanada, of the notorious Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline, is also competing with Spectra Energy for fracked methane export through an LNG export terminal on the British Columbia coast, and Spectra just got another approval for its “corridor” for not one but two giant pipelines to the Pacific Ocean.

Gordon Jaremko wrote for GPI 4 April 2014, NEB OKs Spectra (Westcoast) Tolls; Major Expansion Planned to Serve Pacific LNG,

Spectra Energy (Westcoast) received approval from the National Energy Board (NEB) for the stable base of its agenda: a 2014-2015 tolls and tariff settlement with customers of its current capacity of 3 Bcf/d.

The deal enables the BC grid to focus on a plan aimed at almost quadrupling its capacity by becoming the principal conduit between northern shale deposits and proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals on the Pacific Coast.

The settlement was not opposed or even questioned Continue reading Spectra and TransCanada competing in LNG export in British Columbia →

Judge strikes Nebraska Keystone XL pipeline law

February 20, 2014Law, Nebraska, WaterBrian Fahrenthold, John S. Quarterman, Keystone XL, Law, methane, Nebraska, oil, Sabal Trail Transmission, Sierra Club, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, TransCanadaJohn S. Quarterman

This victory for landowners against eminent domain by an out-of-state company for the Keystone XL oil pipeline is relevant to the Sabal Trail methane pipeline, which is just as big a boondoggle for remote companies at the expense of local landowners and taxpayers.

Alison Sider and Alicia Mundy wrote for WSJ yesterday, Nebraska Judge Blocks Governor’s Keystone XL Decision: Court Decision a Victory for Opponents of the Pipeline Project

A Nebraska judge ruled Wednesday the law allowing the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline to be built across the state is unconstitutional, a move that could further delay the project.

Lancaster County District Court Judge Stephanie Stacy sided with three landowners who argued Nebraska’s governor shouldn’t be able to sign off on the pipeline’s route. The governor, Republican Dave Heineman, was handed that power in a law the state Legislature hastily passed in 2012. But the court ruled that under the state’s constitution, only Nebraska’s Public Service Commission could approve such a pipeline route.

The judge ruled the Legislature overstepped its bounds and the governor’s approval “must be declared null and void,” because it was based on an unconstitutional law.

Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning, who defended the law in court, said he would appeal the decision.

Georgia’s Public Service Commission hasn’t approved any route for Spectra’s Sabal Trail methane pipeline, and I don’t think Alabama’s has, either.

TransCanada said it was disappointed Continue reading Judge strikes Nebraska Keystone XL pipeline law →