As per Zalik: How the law is structured by and for the interests of extractive industries---
TransCanada (the pipeline company) contractors and the API helped write the Environmental Impact Statement on the Keystone XL Pipeline, for the State Department.
This - under Obama - is about as good as it got during the Bush era for big oil.
Government of the people, by the people, and for the people?
State Department Keystone XL Hearings Run By TransCanada Contractor: pIn a stunning conflict of interest, public hearings on federal approval for a proposed tar sands pipeline are being run by a contractor for the pipeline company itself. The U.S. Department of State’s public hearings along the proposed route of the TransCanada Keystone XL tar sands pipeline this week are under the purview of Cardno [...]/p
