Obama to block Keystone oil pipeline

[The Minsky Moment]

I have no idea how the schedule was set - you tell me.  What is the usual time for completing a NEPA review for a pipeline of this size? 

I while back I did some work with one of the larger pipeline companies in the US, and was told that it had been a long time since a major pipeline had been built and the company was of the opinion that a major US pipeline would never again be built (or at least in the forseeable future). The thinking was that between the environmental impact, the nimbyism, and the cost of real estate (now that we have many more urban and suburban areas) the expense and trouble of building a new pipeline didn't make sense (especially while current pipelines have so many opportunities for upgrade).

It wouldn't suprise me if there simply isn't a usual timeline because this sort of project is something we stopped doing decades ago.

Yet the keystone mainline was built quite recently.

[PDH]

Wyoming has had a couple of pipelines built across or starting here in the last 20 years....of course that might mean that pipelines are only built in low population, low value land areas...