We apologize for the silence around here the past week or so. We took a much needed vacation over to the paradise that is Northern Michigan, spending lots of time at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. As always, it was energizing and a reminder of Michigan’s magnificent natural resources– all the more reason to continue doing whatever small part we can to protect them.

Now that we’re back, we’ve got a plea to make on behalf of our friends at the Pipeline Safety Trust. It’s time for the liquid pipelines industry to put up or shut up.

As you may recall, the Pipeline Safety Trust hosts an annual conference that brings together members of industry, regulators, and ordinary citizens to engage in productive dialogue about pipeline safety. We were privileged to attend and speak at the conference last year. It’s an invigorating and important event. The work that the PS Trust does is quiet, but vital. Ordinary citizens are a crucial part of that work. But here’s the problem:

The PS Trust isn’t exactly rich and the conference isn’t exactly cheap. It’s not easy or affordable for a lot of ordinary citizens to get to New Orleans to participate. In the past, the Trust has been able to subsidize much of that travel by securing external grants. Unfortunately, funding sources have dried up. And that means that a lot of citizens– think, for instance, of those people affected by the terrible spill in Mayflower, Arkansas– will likely not be able to attend.

To solve this problem, the Trust has embarked upon a fundraising effort. They’ve estimated that they’ll need to raise about $15,000- 20,000. We think this this sort of crowdfunding is great and we hope you will consider donating something small. It’s worth a few dollars, we promise. But having said that, here’s the thing:

It should be obvious to everyone where the money for this travel should come from. It’s not the PS Trust or the regulatory agencies or ordinary people who have the resources to fund this sort of thing. It’s industry. We’re talking here about corporations that make hundreds of millions of dollars in profit a year. There’s probably $20k in loose change between the cushions of the couches in the lobby at the corporate headquarters.

But the fact that industry can easily generate the sum the PS Trust needs is the least of the reasons why they should pick up this tab. The more important reason is because it’s in their interest to do so. Regular citizens, particularly landowners with pipelines running through their properties, are crucial players in pipeline safety. Everyone agrees on this. We are the first first-responders. We are supposed to be partners, collaborators in pipeline safety.

In fact, that’s exactly what the industry says. The pipeline companies profess to be committed to cultivating productive partnerships and engaging in open dialogue with citizen stakeholders. For instance:

• PG&E says that “Engaging with our stakeholders is an essential part of our approach to sustainability—and an area of continued emphasis for PG&E. Doing so enables us to learn from, inform and problem-solve with our diverse stakeholders.”
• Exxon Mobil insists that “Continued dialogue is critical to the long-term relationship between our employees and our neighbors. That’s why we invite community members to discuss their concerns with us.”
• TransCanada says that “Everything we do depends on the strength of our relationship with local residents.”
• Williams Pipelines “takes great pride in the relationship of trust and harmony we’ve developed with the many landowners and communities with whom we co-exist.”
• Spectra Energy asserts that “community stewardship means listening to and being responsible members of the communities we serve. We engage local stakeholders affected by our projects and ongoing operations early and often…”
• And Enbridge says that “developing and maintaining good relationships with our stakeholders – the landowners, tenants and neighbours along our pipeline system – is important to us.” And one of the ways they do this is by “consulting with the individuals who live along our pipelines, and with those who may become our neighbours as our pipeline network grows.”

Other companies make similar claims. And we want to believe them. We really do. So here is a chance for them to make good on all of those assertions, to actually go out of their way to ensure that landowners are in attendance at a gathering specifically designed to foster the kinds of engagements, consultations, and relationships of trust and harmony they claim (publicly) to value. Here is a perfect opportunity for those corporations to put their money where their collective corporate mouth is. In fact, it would be a PR coup for them. They could announce their donations on their websites, tout them in their next annual corporate responsibility reports, make them a talking point for their Jason Manshums and Shawn Howards. Heck, we would even praise them right here in this blog for making good on their stated commitments, for taking action commensurate with their words!

And it would hardly cost them a thing. What is, say, $5000 to a billion dollar corporation? Any one of the companies I’ve listed above could cut the Pipeline Safety Trust a check for the full $20k and not even miss it. Just a quarter of that from each of the six I’ve listed above and the PS Trust’s goal would be exceeded by a third.

Or, to put this another way, just consider: in 2011, the total compensation of Stephen Wuori of Enbridge exceeded six million dollars. According to the same source, Russell Girling of TransCanada made about the same. And Christopher Johns of PG&E made more than five million. Do you think that between the three of them they could come up with a mere $15,000 dollars to demonstrate their commitment to pipeline safety? Or better yet, why don’t they show some real vision and leadership by establishing a permanent fund specifically designated for citizen travel to the conference every year and distributed by the Trust, thereby permanently sparing Carl Weimer, who has much better things to do, from ever again having to go around panhandling?

So we’ll see what happens. If the funding for citizen travel does not materialize– or if it only comes from committed and generous people who are NOT from the industry– then we’ll know for sure whether all the industry talk about engaging and consulting landowners and neighbors is a reality or just pleasant-sounding rhetoric.