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TransCanada hired the world’s biggest PR firm to dig up dirt on the Council of Canadians and other Energy East opponents

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In Environment
Nov 18th, 2014
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From Maude Barlow Council of Canadians

I have big news to share with you this morning.

Internal company documents leaked by Greenpeace just hours ago reveal oil giant TransCanada has teamed up with the world’s largest public relations firm, Edelman, to smear the Council of Canadians and build phony public support for its proposed Energy East export pipeline.

You see, despite spending millions of dollars on slick ads, TransCanada is losing public support for Energy East.

And you’re a big reason for that. Together with amazing supporters like you, the Council is effectively building a wall of grassroots resistance to TransCanada’s broken pipeline plan and promoting what Canadians really want: clean energy alternatives to tar sands expansion.

So now TransCanada is getting desperate – and dirty

In a 95-page plan, Edelman advises TransCanada “begin with the Council of Canadians” to put pressure on opponents. But instead of debate, they went digging for “audits, unfair labour practices, litigation and legal issues” – whatever dirt they could find on the Council.

No surprise, they came up empty.

But Edelman doesn’t stop there. They advise TransCanada to also “add layers of difficulty for our opponents, distracting them from their mission and causing them to redirect their resources.” To do that, they propose to work with “supportive third parties who can in turn put the pressure on, particularly when TransCanada can’t.”

That means recruiting pro-tar sands voices in a coordinated effort to smear the Council and other opponents, and to manufacture public support for Energy East.

If you think these sound like U.S Tea Party-style tactics, you’re right.

Edelman has a history of recruiting third parties to smear its clients’ critics, including for the tobacco industry and the American Petroleum Institute. And Edelman’s lead man on this attack, Washington-based Mike Krempasky, has direct ties with the Tea Party. Krempasky also had to publicly apologize for using fake grassroots bloggers to win public support for Walmart.

TransCanada likes to tell Canadians that Energy East is a nation-building project.

Let’s tell TransCanada that smear campaigns and phony grassroots support isn’t how you build a nation.

Please join the real and vibrant grassroots movement saying “no” to Energy East and “yes” to clean energy alternatives.

Sign the petition to stop Energy East

If you’ve already signed on – thank you! Please share the petition with friends and family and ask them to join too.

TransCanada’s broken pipeline plan boils down to ‘your risk for their reward’. And here’s why:

  • Energy East is first and foremost an export pipeline that won’t solve Canada’s energy needs.
  • Filling the pipeline would allow a close to 40 per cent increase in tar sands production and generate 32 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Over 1000 waterways, including drinking water sources and fishing waters, would be at risk of a catastrophic tar sands pipeline spill.
  • Ontario and Quebec residents could see their home heating costs skyrocket as oil displaces the natural gas the pipeline currently ships.
  • Tanker traffic in the Bay of Fundy could double, and require a new port in Cacouna, Quebec near protected habitat for beluga whales.

But you and I are now facing an unprecedented – and dirty – attack funded by deep corporate pockets. PR expert Richard Berman was secretly taped telling oil industry executives to “fight dirty or lose pretty” and to “Think of this as an endless war… And you have to budget for it.”

If you believe in holding Big Oil accountable and that we must take bold and urgent action on climate pollution – then please sign the petition to stop Energy East today.

After all, as TransCanada’s desperate attack implies, we’re getting the job done.

Maude Barlow

National Chairperson

P.S. If you’ve already signed the petition – thank you! You can also help by sharing it with friends and family, and asking them to join you in taking action.

One Response to “TransCanada hired the world’s biggest PR firm to dig up dirt on the Council of Canadians and other Energy East opponents”

  1. Roy Monk says:

    Maude: Can’t agree with your summation that a pipe line adds to Greenhouse Gas Emissions. The oil will travel to refineries or ports for export via some mode. Would sooner it be safer Pipeline than Train Tank Cars or would you rather have a reoccurrence of Lac Magantic. If you recall Lac Magantic was Bulk Oil from the USA going partially via Canada to go to the same St. John refinery. Also to add to your assumptions, if oil pipelines are so dangerous why then have we been importing oil via the Portland Maine to Montreal Pipeline (Over 1000 waterways, including drinking water sources and fishing waters) since during the 2nd World War (1941) without incident? Pumping over $ billion Barrels (640,000,000 m3) of crude oil.

    Line 9 from 1976 to 1999 moved Crude from Western Canada to Montreal without incident. At that time line9 was reversed now all they want to put it back to where it was in 1976 (Eastbound) .

    Sorry Maude your arguments do not make any sense.

    Roy Monk

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