(Ne) Sen. rallies for pipeline session (Keystone XL oil sand)

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Omaha World Herald

By Joe Duggan

LINCOLN — Oil pipeline routes in Nebraska would have to gain approval from the state under a proposed bill intended to rally support among state lawmakers for a special legislative session on the controversial Keystone XL project.

Sen. Annette Dubas of Fullerton emailed a copy of the Oil Pipeline Siting Act to her legislative colleagues Monday morning, and said she will follow up this week with phone calls in an effort to generate support for a special session.

"We have a very short timeline here," she said. "If we don't do something before the end of the year, there's not much chance we'll have any ability to interact with this particular project."

She referred to the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, which would carry 700,000 barrels of oil daily from the tar-sand region of Canada to refineries on the American Gulf Coast. She and other elected officials, including Gov. Dave Heineman, want the project rerouted to prevent possible contamination of the aquifer beneath the Nebraska Sand Hills.

Read more: http://www.omaha.com/article/20111003/NEWS01/710049999#sen-rallies-for-pipeline-session

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Also see Pipeline foes allege bias in email

http://www.omaha.com/article/20111003/NEWS01/710039915#pipeline-foes-allege-bias-in-email

By Joseph Morton

WASHINGTON — A group opposed to the Keystone XL pipeline says a fresh batch of emails it released Monday shows the State Department is biased in favor of the project.

In one email exchange from a little over a year ago, pipeline lobbyist Paul Elliott forwarded a press release to State Department official Marja Verloop touting an endorsement of the pipeline by Montana Sen. Max Baucus.

“Go Paul! Baucus support holds clout,” Verloop responded.

Environmental advocacy group Friends of the Earth describes that email as a State Department employee literally rooting for the lobbyist and his effort to win approval of the Keystone XL.

This full story at additional comments link.