Tonight, as I reread the AP-RCJ reprint, I notice something peculiar:
Dan Gunderson, a communications specialist working for the American Petroleum Institute, says he's concentrating on the Midwest because states like South Dakota could end up with pipelines and a refinery as a means to handle the incoming crude oil from Canada.
...Gunderson, who said he has no affiliation with TransCanada, cited a study by the Canadian Energy Research Institute....
Hang on: no affiliation??? TransCanada is a corporate member of the American Petroleum Institute. The API is paying Gunderson to promote the tar sands oil TransCanada will pipe across South Dakota and the Great Plains.
And the local press couldn't check something that obvious?
This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how badly the Keystone XL story has been reported in South Dakota. Falsehoods have been printed, such as saying that some evidence presented at a Keystone XL hearing was a "surprise," when in fact there were multiple emails with Public Utilities Commission staff and TransCanada beforehand, discussing how the evidence should be presented.
ReplyDeleteIn another example, several papers printed that Dakota Rural Action's attorney refused to give information to a reporter. In fact, the attorney told the reporter that he couldn't provide that information about Dakota Rural Action, but that DRA's Director could. The attorney then offered the DRA phone number to the reporter, who declined to take it, saying he already had it.
The South Dakota public -- not to mention the private property owners who will be forced to grant easements to TransCanada for the pipeline -- have been very badly served by the press coverage of the Keystone XL pipeline. The news industry is certainly struggling, but better not to cover a story at all than to print things that just aren't true.
Kelly Fuller
Communications Director
Plains Justice
I should qualify my last comment. Not all of the press coverage has been inaccurate. But Cory, your readers should be aware that there is much misleading coverage out there, especially in regard to the Keystone XL hearings at the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission earlier this month.
ReplyDeleteKelly Fuller
Communications Director
Plains Justice