350.org was out this week with the withering social media response to a May 25 tweet from TransCanada Corporation, the company behind the controversial Keystone XL and Energy East pipelines.
“We help protect the environment by burying pipelines below riverbeds, brooks, and streams,” the company wrote. “Then the Internet took over,” 350 reports, and “the response…was not kind.”
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“Maybe my favourite tweet ever,” led off 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben. “I sure hope no one thinks up any clever replies.”
“Has @TheOnion taken over @TransCanada Twitter account?” asked Jane Fleming Kleeb.
“Hard to imagine a dumber thing to say. About anything. Ever,” tweeted Michael Gaston. “Still trying…Nope. Nothing dumber. Ever.”
“Yeah, that’s a great place for them. What could possibly go wrong with oil pipelines running under rivers?” asked Brian. “Just like BP protects the Gulf of Mexico by drilling underneath it?” added David Turnbull.
“That’s just like how I clean my house by sweeping all the dirt under the carpet,” wrote James McLaren. “Try protecting the net by pulling the goaltender at the start of the first period,” suggested Mike Sandmel.
One Twitter correspondent was moved to ask TransCanada for more. “Thanks for the inspiration!” wrote Alex Lenferna. “Can I also protect children by adding mercury & arsenic to their food? Pls send more helpful tips.”
In another piece of TransCanada news, The Intercept reports that the Washington, DC- and Seattle-based law firm of Van Ness Feldman hired defeated U.S. senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana to bring her energy expertise to its lobbying division.
“Landrieu joins the firm after pushing aggressively for energy-related policy goals that overlapped with Van Ness Feldman’s clients,” writes correspondent Lee Fang. “In November of last year, Landrieu helped force a vote to approve the Keystone XL, the controversial tar sands pipeline owned by TransCanada, a firm represented by Van Ness Feldman.”
“Former senators are barred from lobbying their former colleagues for two years after the end of their congressional careers,” explains NOLA.com. “For Landrieu, that means she can’t lobby colleagues until January 2017. But she can lobby members of the executive branch, and is free to provide Van Ness Feldman clients with strategic advice.”
