It’s common to say that something is “stuck in the pipeline,” by which we mean “held up in the bogged-down bureaucratic process.” But what do we say when a pipeline is stuck in the pipeline? I don’t know, but we sure have a problem with that.
The pipeline permitting process has become one of the most frustrating and exhausting endeavors anyone can get involved with in the United States. Proposed pipeline projects go through many levels of regulatory reviews over where they are sited and whether they pose potential environmental problems or threats to endangered species. Those issues certainly need to be addressed, but the problem is the system we have today requires them to be addressed over and over again. It seems as though no decision by a regulatory agency or court is ever final. It just leads to another appeal, or a new lawsuit is filed once construction is initiated.
