WASHINGTON - November 7 - Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica had the following response to news that the Inspector General’s office at the State Department has launched an investigation into the review of the proposed Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline:

“The State Department’s Inspector General has launched an investigation into wrongdoing in the department’s review of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. Given this, Friends of the Earth calls for an immediate suspension of the pipeline permitting process until the investigation is complete.

“There is overwhelming evidence that the pipeline review process has been a sham, corrupted by bias, lobbyist influence and conflicts of interest. It should be obvious to the White House that it would be wholly inappropriate to continue moving forward with this rigged process while violations of law and federal regulations are being investigated.

“In contrast to what we have seen emerge thus far from the State Department, a fair, impartial review would take into account the tremendous harm that the pipeline and tar sands extraction linked to it would cause, as well as the risks of spills and other environmental damage. If a fair review that accurately reflects the true costs of the pipeline is conducted, President Obama will have little choice but to stop the pipeline.”

Friends of the Earth and other environmental groups recently sent a letter to the Inspector General calling for an investigation and identifying federal regulations that appear to have been violated. That letter is here: http://foe.org/groups-call-investigation-state-departments-pipeline-review

Senators and representatives recently sent a letter to the Inspector General calling for an investigation. That letter is here: http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=BD202829-66E3-4088-A108-289E6E445CE9