Fifty years ago this week, legislation authorizing construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline passed both houses of Congress and was signed into law by President Richard Nixon. The whole process took all of five days. Not only was the timeline unprecedented, but so was the fact that the act specifically halted all legal challenges against the planned pipeline. Furthermore, it prohibited federal and state agencies from regulating the construction of the project. The legislation led to a flurry of construction, and since the first oil flowed…
