National Journal : “The consulting firm that crafted the State Department’s environmental review of the Keystone XL pipeline is defending the company’s independence amid green-group allegations that its work was hobbled by conflicts of interest.”  

Freddie Hospedales, global head of marketing at Environmental Resources Management, responded to criticisms of ERM’s role: “It is a bit like being an auditor of banks, of things like that. You need to understand how the banking system works … The same principle applies in this. We are an independent assessor.”  

Crossposted at Wonk Wire.