Keystone XL pipeline: Good for Big Oil, bad for the economy

Laurie Johnson, Chief Economist, Climate Center, Washington, DC

  

[We’re] probably looking at…from Montana to Houston, I don’t know, [job creation] in the hundreds...” (Robert Jones, TransCanada’s Vice President for Keystone Pipelines, CNN, November 11, 2011)

 

Interesting quote. TransCanada and its allies can’t seem to keep their numbers straight for the proposed tar sands Keystone XL pipeline. Just the day before, the company released a press statement predicting 20,000 pipeline and 118,000 “spin-off” jobs. In September of 2010, they claimed 13,000 jobs. Two months prior to that, a “study” they commissioned was released predicting 250,000 to over half a million jobs (p. 33). The Republican Party claims over 100,000.  All of these estimates contradict the statement by the company’s own Vice President, even those at the lower end.

Analysts who aren’t trying to make money off the pipeline conclude that it would create far fewer jobs. Researchers at Cornell University project as few as 2,500 jobs, and the State Department up to 6,000 (p.ES-22). Notably, most projections are for short-term jobs associated with construction—something proponents don’t always make clear. (There’s nothing wrong with short-term jobs, any would be welcome, but their temporary nature shouldn’t ...


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  • Anonymous

    Those who believe that global approach to advance the world on
    environmental issues such as global warming and understand that economic
    globalization will carry on developing our natural resources, may need
    to readjust their thinking as a results of the lack of progress made on an
    international level. They may better work with helping business in our
    country achieve higher standards that will reflect globally on the
    environment.

    1) china refinement of oil and their standards

    2) china’s use of this oil and their standards for carbon emissions

    4) Obama administrations failure to achieve any results on negotiating
    international carbon emission standards because of understanding you
    have to verify with these people who run China as a business whose only concern is the bottom line. Although sadly the administration flip flops failing to address with legislation or even with their still purposed military plan a way to verify the amount of virus and pathogens the federal government is allowing them to dump in American waters delivering foreign made goods.  

    3) oil sent to china with dirty water trail from lax ballast water regs
    allowing bacteria, temperature activated virus, invasive s and toxic
    substances to be spread along with the carbon footprint of tankers as the earth warms.

    4) oil imported by tanker to replace this lost oil with dirty ballast trail and carbon footprint

    5) possibly increase in coastal movement of this oil to California with dirty ballast and carbon footprint

    6) shift of some dependence on supply from violent part of world to stable government of peace. This might not only help reduce war killing people but the environmental destruction war causes.

    7) help American economy possibly cutting back on tainted China made goods
    imported on ships with dirty ballast and carbon footprint
        
    The NRDC has expressed dissatisfaction with the weak international ballast water regulation the EPA has purposed and there is still failure on the part of the Coast Guard to create strong action to put this problem to rest, all as the talk of New York strong regulations ending again begins to ramp up.

    The above are a few things I think should to be considered by any
    environmentalist who proclaims a global approach when considering where
    this oil should go to best serve the global environment.

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