Forget that this is the worst economic recovery ever. Forget that support for building the Keystone Pipeline is at an all time high. Forget about lower energy prices, thousands of American jobs and a competitive edge over China. The environmentalists and their allies want you to worry about the American burying beetle, because heaven forbid we let the little pests be moved out of harm’s way.

A tiny insect could delay construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline by up to a year, the Omaha World-Herald reported Wednesday.

Pipeline company TransCanada Inc. had planned to trap and relocate hundreds of the endangered American burying beetles along Keystone’s proposed path, but new rules by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service prevent the pipeline developer from moving the hiding bugs until the project receives federal approval.

An official with the Center for Biological Diversity, which sued the federal government last year and prompted the rule change, said the decision could set back Keystone’s construction by up to a year because the insects can only be moved in the spring and summer. (Read More)

I wish this was a joke, but it’s not.