The State Department recently came out with a report declaring that transporting oil via the Keystone XL pipeline would have a "minimal environmental impact" relative to moving it over railroad tracks.

That's not a particularly difficult standard to meet, considering all the petrol spillages caused by rail petrol transport across the country over the last few years.

But as Colbert noted last night, mainstream media outlets are flying with the State Department's report with characteristic glibness.

"Major advancements for the keystone pipeline: The State Department issuing an eleven volume report [that] finds the pipeline won't hurt the environment like proponents claim," said one reporter in a clip featured on the show.

Colbert went on to highlight a story from The Washington Post implying that the transport of oil from Alberta was inevitable: "…most of Alberta's oil will likely find a way to get into the market anyway–if not by pipeline, than by rail."

“Case in point," Colbert followed up, "If it’s inevitable that climate change is gonna melt the ice caps, I say we drown the polar bears in the San Diego Zoo."