While the Keystone XL, Northern Gateway, Trans Mountain and Energy East pipelines remain stalled in political upheaval, environmental opposition and regulatory processing, the government of Alberta could start moving landlocked oil to tidal waters via the Arctic as early as 2015, according to a technical report recently released by the Alberta government. 

The report, authored by Canatec Associates International Ltd., an Arctic petroleum consultation firm, considers three scenarios for exporting oilsands product, all of which were deemed technically feasible. An early, exploratory shipment of oil to the Arctic could be on the move as early as next year, the report states.

The Arctic Gateway Pipeline, previously considered logistically unfeasible, has been eyed with increasing interest recently, as a warming climate begins to open up the north to new development and previously inaccessible shipment routes.

The report notes the new export route stands to benefit from a combination of a changing northern climate, hunger for resource development in Yellowknife and the Northwest Territories, and the growing desperation to move Alberta oil to Asian markets.

The Financial Post reports “an aggressive push from the federal government to reduce environmental oversight in the territory” is part of the “combination of winning conditions” adding to the proposal’s viability.

The report states Alberta “could take a leadership role within Canadian confederation, on the future of the Arctic.”

“Alberta will automatically be a major player in this industry if it has already established an Arctic Energy Gateway.”

The Canatec report notes the Arctic “lacks the equipment, personnel and logistical capacity to effectively respond to oil spills,” adding, “no oil spill response organizations are certified to work in the Arctic.”

Proposed route to the Arctic. Image from Canatec.

The pipeline is projected to transport up to 100,000 barrels of diluted bitumen a day. The Keystone XL pipeline would carry up to 700,000 barrles of oil per day from Canada to the Gulf Coast and the federally-approved Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline would have a daily capacity of 525,000 barrels of oil.

Alberta Energy spokesperson Ryan Cromb told Fort McMurray Today the report was commissioned to survey oil-export options, and not to identify an alternative to existing pipelines.

“This report was commissioned as part of our larger look at market access in all directions – east, west, north and south,” he said. “Alberta Energy is continuing to review the report and will use it to help better inform us and more fully understand market options.”

Mike Hudema from Greenpeace Canada told Fort McMurray Today it is “absolutely ridiculous” Alberta is considering an Arctic route for oil export.

“Not only should we not be expanding the oilsands at a point where we are blowing past so many environmental thresholds, but now we want to endanger one of the last remaining untouched ecosystems?” he said.

Keith Stewart, energy and climate campaigner for Greenpeace, echoed these concerns: “The melting of the arctic should be setting off alarms saying we should start moving away from fossil fuels,” he said. “Instead, we are using it as an opportunity to make things worse.”

New economic attention has been paid to Arctic shipping routes since ice levels dropped to record lows in the summer of 2012. Unprecedented ice retreat in August 2012 opened up Parry Channel in the Northwest Passage, signaling a new life to the historic shipping route that, until then, was thought too dangerous to be economic.

Ice in the Perry Channel July 17, 2012. Image by NASA.

Ice retreat in Perry Channel on August 3, 2012. Image by NASA.

In 2013 a container ship used the Northwest Passage to deliver cargo to the port in Rotterdam.

Canatec currently lists the Northwest Passage as “technically feasible to open.”

Image Credit: Tuktoyaktuk by pony_coach via Flickr.

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DeSmog Canada recently revealed Andy Cobb and Mike Damanskis – two political satirists in the spotlight for their ongoing spoofery of the Alberta tar sands project – had an Indiegogo fundraising promotional video for their upcoming "vacation" to the Alberta tar sands ordered removed from YouTube due to an alleged copyright violation.

Alleged because under U.S. legal precedent (YouTube is a U.S. company), it's almost impossible to claim copyright damages for parody and/or satire. That won't keep Travel Alberta, the province's tourism bureau, from trying.

"The original inspiration for our project is that industry PR around the tar sands seems like a cross between a travel ad and oil company ad, inviting us to 'come to Alberta' and see for ourselves," Mike Damanskis told DeSmog. 

Demanskis has provided DeSmog with a copy of Travel Alberta's complaint, a screenshot of which can been seen below.

As the screenshot portrays, Travel Alberta is being represented by Denton for this complaint, a firm formed with the merger of international law firm Salans LLP, Canadian law firm Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP and international law firm SNR Denton in March 2013.

Under-explored thus far in the saga: the relationship between Denton and Big Oil.

A DeSmog investigation has revealed Denton is a major corporate firm representing Big Oil in all facets of its operations, from upstream, to midstream to downstream. Further, the attorney-of-record issuing the complaint, Jordan R.M. Deering maintains an attorney-client relationship with Big Oil. Fraser Milner Casgrain also formerly lobbied on behalf of Big Oil and also represented infamous climate change denier Tim Ball in court. 

Representing ExxonMobil Tar Sands Project, Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline 

Denton has "made the case" for many oil and gas industry clientele and works closely both with tar sands producers and also pipeline companies bringing the product to market. 

One of Denton's major clients for the past year and a half has been Enbridge, concerning the company's controversial Northern Gateway Pipeline set to carry tar sands crude from Alberta to the coast of British Columbia at Kitimat. From there, diluted bitumen ("dilbit") will be shipped to predominantly Asian export markets. Northern Gateway – by and large – is Canada's version of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline and has encountered fierce resistance. 

Denton explains of its legal role for Northern Gateway on its website as "advising on all aspects of the proposed dual pipeline…and the marine terminal at Kitimat…Counseling the client during environmental assessments and National Energy Board proceedings and providing advice with respect to negotiations with aboriginal groups and governments, shipping and navigation reviews, commercial structuring, finance and construction." 

A dues-paying member of the Alberta Chamber of Resources and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Canada's largest oil and gas lobby, Denton also enjoys another powerful client: ExxonMobil, the "Private Empire."

Exxon's the subject of Cobb and Damanskis' first tar sands-centric satire poking fun at Exxon's massive Pegasus tar sands Pipeline spill in Mayflower, Arkansas, which aired on primetime on "The Rachel Maddow Show," as seen below.

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The Alberta government has hired a team of "foreign special interest groups" to lobby the U.S. Congress and the White House in a desperate attempt to garner support for the risky Keystone XL pipeline that would carry (and certainly spill) tar sands crude through the heartland of America to the Gulf Coast and on to export markets overseas. Given the Exxon tar sands spill in Arkansas, dilbit train derailment in Minnesota and other tar sands disasters in recent weeks, I suppose Alberta figured it needs all the help it can muster.

Politico reports that Alberta is spending $200,000 over the next few months to retain the lobbying and PR services of Rasky Baerlein Strategic Communications and Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti. 

Politico quotes a filing from the Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti firm that says it will provide "strategic consulting in educating U.S. government officials about the Keystone XL pipeline and Alberta's energy resources," while the Rasky firm will "assist in communicating priority issues and promoting the principal's energy and environmental positions to the executive and legislative branches of government as well as other U.S. institutions."

While the ultimate fate of the Keystone XL pipeline rests squarely in the hands of President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, Alberta is ramping up its all-out Washington blitz to win support for the controversial proposal in Congress and anywhere on the Hill their lobbyists can get in the door. 

Here is a brief look at the specific lobbyists retained to curry favor on behalf of the Alberta government. Note that at least two have experience working on the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and John Kerry.

Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti

David Castagnetti – Partner.  Castagnetti is a "Democratic uber lobbyist" and political strategist. Castagnetti's bio at mvc-dc.com states that prior to joining Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti Inc., "David served as the day-to-day point person to Congressional leaders and Members of the House and Senate for Senator John Kerry's 2004 Presidential campaign." Castagnetti was also a donor to the pro-Obama PAC Priorities USA Action.  He has lobbied on behalf of oil giant Koch Industries as recently as 2011, according to OpenSecrets. He began his career in the Office of Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA). 

Alex Vogel – Partner. A co-founder of Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti and a veteran Republican Party lawyer, Vogel claims to have a "true insider's perspective on Washington." Prior to starting the firm with Bruce Mehlman, Vogel served as Chief Counsel to Tennessee Republican Sen. Bill Frist, M.D.  

Kelly Rucker Bingel – Partner. A former newspaper reporter and veteran Democratic Hill staffer, Bingel is a moderate Democrat who served for many years as a top staffer to former Arkansas Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln, including her time as chief of staff from 2003-5. Bingel's mvc-dc.com bio states that she "helped moderate Democrats create the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition" with then Rep. Lincoln. And "as a Legislative Director and Chief of Staff on the Senate side [for Sen. Lincoln], she helped create the Senate New Dems." In the 1990s, when Bingel served as Communications Director for Rep. Blanche Lincoln, she "helped craft legislative language" during negotiations on the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and "later parlayed her telecom background as a lobbyist for AT&T's Office of Law and Government Affairs." But a previous version of her bio, accessible at LittleSis.org, reveals her classic revolving door move straight from the Hill to lobbying for AT&T "during implementation of the Telecom Act." It also states that: "In fact, Kelly served as Sen. Lincoln’s liaison to the telecommunications and technology industry for more than 12 years. Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti’s high tech clients are reaping the rewards of this experience today." 

Rasky Baerlein Strategic Communications

Graham Shalgian – Senior Vice President at Rasky. A long-term staffer of former liberal lion U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, Shalgian's Rasky.com bio notes that Shalgian's "experience includes both the "Obama for America" and "John Kerry for President" campaigns."

David Tamasi – Senior Vice President at Rasky. Tamasi's Rasky.com bio states that he is "recognized by National Journal as a GOP "Insider" and regarded as a leading Republican fundraiser serving on the national finance committees for Mitt Romney for President and U.S. Senator Scott Brown."

Benjamin Nguyen Wexler – Nu Wexler is Vice President of Public Affairs at Rasky. He joined the firm only a few weeks ago. Wexler previously served as communications director for Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal. In addition to his jobs in government, Wexler worked at Ogilvy PR Worldwide and Wal-Mart Watch, according to his LinkedIn profile. 

I'll update this post on Thursday with further details as I find them. 

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