Axing Keystone XL Pipeline Cost Thousands of Jobs, Billions of Dollars, Energy Department Says; Oil Industry Exec Rips White House After Surprising Keystone Admission: Biden Created 'economic boondoggle'

Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via AP

Axing Keystone XL pipeline cost thousands of jobs, billions of dollars, Energy Department says

President Biden‘s cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline that would have carried 800,000 barrels of oil per day from Canada to the Gulf Coast likely cost thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity, according to a new report from the Department of Energy.

The 18-page document, based on a literature review of past studies, concluded that the project would have produced 16,149 to 59,468 temporary jobs with an economic impact of $3.4 billion to $9.6 billion, largely confirming criticism from Republicans and the energy sector about the impact of axing its development.

DOE went on to say that the “high-end figure overstates jobs” because some would have been created abroad and the figure included jobs from a different, already built section of the original Keystone pipeline. It reiterated that, based on a 2014 State Department study, only about 50 of the jobs would have been permanent once the XL extension was operational and estimated that 3,900 direct jobs and 21,050 total jobs would have been created during construction.

The effect on consumer prices from the project’s cancellation was inconclusive, the report stated, “particularly in light of the changes that have occurred in Canadian and U.S. crude oil markets since the KXL pipeline was proposed.”

On his first day in office, Mr. Biden, as part of his climate change agenda, scrapped a permit that was essential to the multibillion-dollar operation. That eventually forced the plug to be pulled on the project by the private developer, TC Energy. Republicans and the energy industry erupted in outrage, accusing the president of sacrificing jobs and energy security.

“The Department of Energy finally admitted to the worst-kept secret about the Keystone pipeline: President Biden’s decision to cancel the Keystone XL Pipeline sacrificed thousands of American jobs,” Sen. James Risch, Idaho Republican, said in a statement. “The president must turn to American-made energy and jobs rather than dictators and despots to fix the energy crisis he created on his first day in office.” --->READ MORE HERE

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Oil industry exec rips White House after surprising Keystone admission: Biden created 'economic boondoggle':

After a U.S. Department of Energy report showed thousands of energy industry jobs would’ve been created with the Keystone XL Pipeline, one oil executive slammed the White House for knowingly creating an "economic boondoggle."

"It's an economic boondoggle here," Canary CEO Dan Eberhart said on "Mornings with Maria" on Friday. "What America needs is clean, cheap energy. And I think that the Biden administration keeps throwing these lifelines to the progressive left and trying to give in to their wish list, but they're doing it at the expense of the American consumer."

The Biden administration published a congressionally mandated report highlighting the positive economic benefits the Keystone XL Pipeline would have had if President Biden didn't revoke its federal permits.

The report, which the Department of Energy (DOE) completed in late December without any public announcement, says the Keystone XL project would have created between 16,149 and 59,000 jobs and would have had a positive economic impact of between $3.4 billion-$9.6 billion, citing various studies. A previous report from the federal government published in 2014 determined 3,900 direct jobs and 21,050 total jobs would be created during construction which was expected to take two years.

But immediately after taking office in January 2021, Biden canceled the pipeline's permits, effectively shutting the project down.

"The fact of the matter is, this pipeline not only would have created jobs here, it would have helped our energy security and strengthened our alliance with Canada, and it would have given us the ability to have more plentiful, cheaper energy," Eberhart explained. "What the administration is failing to do here is reduce demand. Affecting supply and reducing supply just pushes energy costs up to consumers." --->READ MORE HERE

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