Keystone XL review drags on 5 times longer than average

Associated Press ^ | August 12, 2015 | Josh Lederman

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For six and a half years, the White House has had a quick comeback to questions about its yet-to-be-announced decision on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline: Talk to the State Department.

Under a George W. Bush-era executive order, oil pipelines crossing U.S. borders require a presidential permit, setting off a government-wide review that the State Department coordinates. President Barack Obama, in no rush to anger either environmentalists or energy advocates, has deflected criticism about the long-delayed decision by arguing that his administration is merely carrying out his Republican predecessor's directive in the ordinary way.

But an Associated Press review of every cross-border pipeline application since 2004 shows that the Keystone review has been anything but ordinary.

Since April 2004, when Bush signed his order, the federal government has taken an average of 478 days to give a yes or no to all other applications — less than a year and a half. The company hoping to build Keystone has been waiting for a decision for nearly 7 years — or more than five times the average.

And while the State Department does bear responsibility for reviewing potential pipelines, former Bush White House officials who helped craft the policy say it was never intended that the final decision would be outsourced. After all, it's called a presidential permit. The revamped process Bush created was intended to speed up, not slow down, permits for major infrastructure projects, those officials said.

"It was seen as the most routine, boring thing in the world," Robert McNally, Bush's senior energy adviser at the time, said of approving pipeline permits.

For whatever reason, Keystone emerged as a political flashpoint, elevated by supporters and opponents alike into a proxy battle over climate change and U.S. energy policy.

[Menehune56]

The most passive-aggressive administration in history.