Back in the 1950s and early 1960s, when there were three US commercial networks and an infant one called educational television, programs went into "summer reruns" where selected episodes that aired during the standard 36-week season were shown again. Executives assumed that better weather meant most viewers would be outdoors and away from their TV sets. They thought fresh episodes would be a waste of money.
The ongoing Keystone XL cross-border permit drama has been its own summer rerun for months. The crude oil pipeline project's supporters and opponents have repeated their earlier arguments. Obama administration officials, meanwhile, have said the US Department of State is taking the necessary time to complete its supplemental environmental impact statement.
The few fresh elements included US President Barack Obama's observation, during his climate change address, that the project's cross-border permit would not be approved if it would have adverse environmental impacts. The State Department's inspector general's office launched an investigation Aug. 8 of allegations that Energy Resources Management, the outside contractor conducting the supplemental EIS, had conflicts of interest.
That office announced on Aug. 23 that the investigation probably will not be finished until January 2014. It also said that the probe would consider findings and recommendations from findings of a similar conflict-of-interest examination of Keystone XL's original EIS which was released in February 2012.
Environmental organizations immediately said this announcement confirmed their latest suspicions. "The evidence is clear: ERM lied and has no business advising the Obama administration about the pipeline," Ross Hammond, a senior campaigner with Friends of the Earth, said on Aug. 26.
Followed procedures
But the earlier investigation found that DOS followed the necessary procedures in most cases to avoid conflicts of interest involving Cardno Entrix, the original EIS's independent contractor; TransCanada Corp., Keystone XL's sponsor; and DOS itself.
It said DOS generally followed the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's third-party contractor rules, and TransCanada's influence was minimal. Earlier relationships between Cardno Entrix and TransCanada were not a conflict of interest because they were not directly related to Keystone XL, it indicated. Investigators also found that DOS did not violate its role as an unbiased oversight agency.
They recommended that DOS's Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs work with the department's Bureau of Administration and its legal advisor's office to redesign the selection of third-party contractors, and improve organizational conflict of interest screenings. Specifically, the report said DOS should maximize its control of each step in the process and minimize the applicants' role.
Barring dramatic lapses, the new investigation probably will reach a similar conclusion as this particular summer rerun goes through the fall.