"With a decision expected by the end of the year from the Obama administration on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, members of Congress have sent two letters to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton raising concerns over the State Department’s handling of a critical environmental review of the project."

"A letter sent late last week by Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon and two Vermont senators, Patrick Leahy and Bernard Sanders, criticized the State Department for assigning the review of Keystone XL to a consulting firm with financial ties to the pipeline’s operator and urged the federal government to start the process all over again.

The letter cited a New York Times article published this month that said the State Department used Cardno Entrix, a Houston-based consulting firm, at the suggestion of TransCanada, which is seeking to build the 1,700-mile pipeline from Alberta to Texas."

Dan Frosch reports for the New York Times' Green blog October 18, 2011. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"For the Keystone Battle, a Folk Hero" (Green/NYT) [3]