Gosh, Maybe We Need More Pipelines?
MINOT, N.D. — The political fight over pipeline infrastructure has become so pronounced that one of the first things President Joe Biden did, upon taking office, was cancel a permit for the Keystone XL line to cross the American/Canadian border.
Building a new oil or gas pipeline in the United States today means not just paying to build the thing but navigating an exacting and often arcane regulatory process, fighting what will likely be years worth of litigation funded by activist groups focused on running up the legal bills, and dealing with physical protests which, in some instances, can turn brutally violent.
And even if you survive all that, you can still see your project derailed by the flick of a pen wielded by some grandstanding politician.
Meanwhile, politics aside, the need for more oil and gas pipelines is palpable.
