U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, regarded as President Obama’s favorite to replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, owns stock in the company that wants to build the Keystone XL pipeline, the construction of which was blocked by the State Department.
Rice’s 2011 financial disclosure form, available via Open Secrets, shows that she owns between $250,000 and $500,000 of TransCanada stock. Obama, through the State Department, blocked construction of the northern half of the pipeline by refusing to grant the company a permit to cross the national border.
TransCanada hasn’t given up on building the pipeline. It has already proceeded with construction of the southern half, which runs from Oklahoma to the Gulf of Mexico.
As for the northern half, “TransCanada anticipates approval of the Presidential Permit application – which is required as the pipeline will cross the Canada/U.S. border – in the first quarter of 2013, after which construction will quickly begin,” the company says on it’s website.
