Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will recuse himself from any decisions surrounding the Keystone XL pipeline, the State Department said.
Tillerson, former CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp., decided last month to remove himself from issues related to pipeline owner TransCanadas application for a permit, saida letter from the State Department to environmental group Greenpeaceon Thursday.
He has not worked on that matter at the Department of State, and will play no role in the deliberations or ultimate resolution of TransCanadas application, said the letter, signed by Katherine McManus, State Department deputy legal adviser.
The State Department plays a key role in Keystone XL because the pipeline would cross the U.S. border with Canada. Annie Leonard, executive director of Greenpeace USA, wrote to the State Department on Wednesday,urging Tillerson to step away from any decisions regarding Keystone because his former employer, Exxon Mobil, would directly and predictably benefit from the approval of the project.
TransCanadas Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry oil from Canadas tar sands through the U.S. and on to the Gulf of Mexico, had been the source of political and environmental handwringing for five years until former President Barack Obama rejected the project in 2015, citing climate change. The projectwas revived in January, when President Donald Trump called for approval of both Keystone and the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline.
TransCanada quicklyrefiled an application to build its pipeline.
Despite Tillersons recusal on Keystone, Greenpeace called for greater monitoring of the Trump administration, asking the Office of Government Ethics to watch Trumps Cabinet of billionaires and corporate executives like hawks.
We must keep pushing this administration into the spotlight and demanding that ethics watchdogs hold these individuals accountable and make these decisions regarding rampant conflicts of interest transparent, Diana Best, the groups senior climate and energy campaigner, said in a statement.
Read more: http://ift.tt/2m9Cel5
The post Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Recuses Himself From Keystone Pipeline Decisions appeared first on MavWrek Marketing by Jason
No comments:
Post a Comment