Yesterday, late afternoon, my telephone rang and the caller ID revealed it was the Associated Press.  Since I am a petroleum engineer I rather suspected it would be another call related to the BP situation in the Gulf of Mexico.  To my surprise, the AP reporter who rang me was inquiring about the Keystone Pipeline.  She wanted to know if allowing the pipeline to operate up to 80% rather than 72% would be dangerous.  I explained that pipelines are designed with safety factors (materials are selected with large safety factors), and that as long as the operating pressure didn't exceed burst pressure everything would be fine.  She seemed dissatisfied with my answer, inquiring further whether pipeline design specifications had changed greatly in the past 40 years.  Again, I calmly assured her that engineers follow ASTM and other design standards and that those had been rock solid for many years.   Her final question, and the point of political...(Read Full Post)