When will America ever learn? Industry and some government officials -- helped sometimes by mixed signals from the Obama administration -- continue to push for the Keystone XL pipeline to run across some of the major drinking-water sources of the American Midwest, despite the risk of a catastrophc spill. And they assure us that this Keystone pipeline will be different, that it will come with the latest state-of-the-art safety equipment and rapid response that will prevent an inland Deepwater Horizon. But if that's the case, why can't Big Oil and Gas run a pipeline safely today? In fact, the New York Times reported last year that there have been about 100 major pipeline spills in the United States every year, a number that has not changed considerably over the last two decades. That's been compounded by atrocious oversight by government regulators:
The little-known federal agency charged with monitoring the system and enforcing safety measures — the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration — is chronically short of inspectors and lacks the resources needed to hire more, leaving too much of the regulatory control in the hands of pipeline operators themselves, according to federal reports, an examination ...