A bitter wind whips over the plains, buffeting our big tour bus as it rumbles along the lonely highway. Somewhere up ahead of us in the gray distance, somewhere beyond the swirling flakes of snow, is what the fuss is all about.

Nebraska is home to some 21,000 miles of oil and gas pipelines, all of which were built without extensive state Supreme Court deliberations, multiple acts of Congress and diplomatic debacles.

Not so the Keystone XL Pipeline.

“It’s ironic we’ve got all this controversy over Keystone XL,” mused Corey Goulet, president of TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone Pipeline, aboard the vehicle ferrying assorted energy executives and journalists. “Most Americans don’t realize that the original Keystone system has been in operation for over four years. It’s moved almost 700 million barrels [bbl] of oil already in those four years. To put that into perspective, that’s about $70 billion of oil that’s been moved by the original Keystone system.”

In a time when public discourse has descended into sound and fury, many Americans may not even realize that Keystone XL is a proposed pipeline project, or what it is intended to carry. It has devolved into a symbol, something to just be for or against, like ObamaCare or a Miley Cyrus for the energy industry.

It’s much more than that, of course. Keystone is designed to be a model of efficiency, safety and high technology.

“This is the first 2,000-mile system that’s been built from the ground up and not in phases,” Goulet said. “Most of the other pipeline systems are little segments that are strung together. This is a real opportunity to think about things on a large scale.”

“Exactly,” agreed Peter Hoglund, vice president for oil and gas at Siemens, the engineering contractor responsible for making everything that makes the oil move—pumps, motors, drive systems, switch gear, pump stations. “[The project gives us a chance to] really consider all the parameters—safety first—across the board for the whole pipeline.”

After a two-hour trek, the bus pulls off onto a side road. The group, clad in steel-toed boots and as many layers as feasible, descends from the warm vehicle to inspect Siemens’ handiwork, Pump Station No. 38.

The automated marvel, barely noticeable from the highway, handles 550,000 bbl/d of crude oil on its way from western Canada to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast. Keystone XL will create a more direct route, speeding the delivery of crude to customers.

TransCanada has agreed to dozens of demands that go above and beyond normal safety codes for this pipeline. The line will be placed four feet below ground, instead of the industry standard three feet. Mainline valves will be placed every 20 miles to minimize impact in the event of a rupture.

“The code already has a very high standard,” Goulet said, “and this just adds belts and suspenders to what’s already there.”

The scribes and executives, extremities numb, climb back onto the bus to traverse the chill of northeastern Nebraska. In this state, waiters in high-end restaurants meticulously describe the art of preparing a 24-ounce, bone-in Delmonico, and friendly waitresses in rural diners repeatedly tap you on the shoulder to steer you back to the buffet for more Salisbury steak.

The place is a vegan nightmare, but it’s also the home to many folks who understand the value of good corporate neighbors like TransCanada and of playing host to an assortment of pipelines that provide economic benefits to the state and energy security to the nation.

Keystone XL would be simply the fourth stage of a pipeline that already exists. In the six-year wait for permit approvals, it has been re-engineered and rerouted to mitigate environmental concerns, but is battled by environmentalists anyway. It should be an afterthought, as it someday likely will be, not a hard-fought-over line in the snow.

This project has claimed far too much time, attention, money and ink. The Keystone XL controversy’s 15 minutes is up. Build it already.

Joseph Markman can be reached at jmarkman@hartenergy.com or 713-260-5208.

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