EPA concluded by rating the draft EIS as “not contain[ing] sufficient information for EPA to fully assess environmental impacts that should be avoided to fully protect the environment . . . .” EPA Comments at 6 & Enclosure. The adverb “fully,” which appears twice in EPA’s conclusion, highlights the problem. From Webster's, to Random House, to American Heritage, the word “fully” means “totally or completely,” “to the greatest degree or extent,” “entirely or wholly.” In the context of such subjective goals as “environmental impact that should be avoided” and “protect the environment,” such a standard is either impossible to fulfill or is divorced from common understanding.
Since September 19, 2008, when TransCanada applied to the State Department for a Presidential Permit, the environmental impacts of the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline have been assessed, revised, supplemented and debated. This process has no doubt produced improvements in the protective measures required of TransCanada and reduced the potential for threats to human health and the environment. But, like all human endeavors, it cannot achieve perfection. Yet, a process that continuously seeks more and more information and study so that impacts are “fully” assessed and the environment “fully” protected, hastens the day on which TransCanada concludes that its resources are better invested in other projects.
The issues EPA raises in its comments involve legitimate practical considerations concerning the specific terms to be included in a final permit. The comments also acknowledge the uncertainty inherently involved in attempting to compare greenhouse gas impacts of the specific project under review with the virtually limitless alternatives means for developing the Alberta oil sands. None of the comments, however, identifies issues sufficient to alter the conclusions in the draft EIS. Further delay demonstrates only the need for Congress to seriously consider reform of the permitting process.
1 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/14/nyregion/justice-denied-bronx-court-system-mired-in-delays.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0