The Keystone pipeline will NOT create 20,000 new jobs
“Millions of Americans are desperate for jobs, and no single project promises more of them than the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline, which would run from Canada to the Gulf Coast…. As the largest shovel-ready infrastructure project in the U.S., Keystone XL was expected to create 20,000 new jobs right away.”
– U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar and
Senate Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell
And that, of course, is false, and Lugar and McConnell have good reason to know it is false. The Keystone XL Pipeline, the centerpiece of the latest standoff in Washington, will not produce 20,000 shovel-ready jobs. Even TransCanada, the company pushing the pipeline’s construction, now acknowledges that it is false.
The number that the company likes to throw around is now 13,000 direct construction jobs, but that too is misleading. When challenged, the company acknowledges that it is counting what you might call “job years.” In other words, TransCanada believes the project will produce 6,500 jobs that last for two years.
Six thousand five hundred jobs is a far cry from 20,000. And even the 6,500-job estimate is much too high. According to an independent assessment by Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, the project would produce between 2,500 and 4,650 construction jobs, and could even end up costing the country jobs, for reasons that we’ll get to below.
TransCanada is basing its job estimates on a report that it commissioned from the Perryman Group. However, the Perryman Group has refused to release important data behind its estimate, claiming it to be proprietary information. The folks at Cornell nevertheless took what data Perryman did make available and found several major, fundamental flaws in its approach.
For example, a $1 billion portion of the Keystone XL pipeline has already been built and is up and operating. The Perryman study nonetheless pretends that section of the project is still on the drawing boards and, when built, will provide thousands of new jobs.
In addition, Keystone supporters ignore the fact that large quantities of Canadian tar-sands oil are already being imported into the United States and are being refined and used in the American Midwest. As the Cornell study points out:
“According to TransCanada, KXL will increase the price of heavy crude oil in the Midwest by almost $2 to $4 billion annually, and escalating for several years. It will do this by diverting major volumes of tar sands oil now supplying the Midwest refineries, so it can be sold at higher prices to the Gulf Coast and export markets. As a result, consumers in the Midwest could be paying 10 to 20 cents more per gallon for gasoline and diesel fuel, adding up to $5 billion to the annual US fuel bill.”
As the Cornell study concludes, those higher fuel prices for the Midwest could cost that region thousands of jobs. So while the pipeline construction would certainly help the Canadian tar-sands investors — many of them Chinese — get a higher price for their product by moving it to the Gulf, it could prove to be a wash or even a net negative in terms of jobs for American workers.
As the Cornell study concludes:
“It is unfortunate that the numbers generated by TransCanada, the industry, and the Perryman study have been subject to so little scrutiny, because they clearly inflate the projections for the numbers of direct, indirect, and long-term induced jobs that KXL might expect to create. What is being offered by the proponents is advocacy to build support for KXL, rather than serious research aimed to inform public debate and responsible decision making. By repeating inflated numbers, the supporters of KXL approval are doing an injustice to the American public in that expectations are raised for jobs that simply cannot be met. These numbers — hundreds of thousands of jobs! — then get packaged as if KXL were a major jobs program capable of registering some kind of significant impact on unemployment levels and the overall economy. This is plainly untrue.”
– Jay Bookman
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804 comments Add your comment
Jm
December 14th, 2011
8:51 pm
Getalife
We’ll see. He has a good organization and a decent fund for the campaign
josef
December 14th, 2011
8:51 pm
jm
“…too incompetent to be senator”
Is that possible?
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 14th, 2011
8:53 pm
Mama Says – just for you
http://www.columbiatribune.com/photos/2011/nov/23/34866/
Bruno
December 14th, 2011
8:53 pm
Mama Says–To a man, the Libs crow on and on about how great the Clinton years were. And they’re right. Balanced budgets, the end of welfare, etc. But good luck getting them to give the architect of the success of the Clinton years, Newt Gingrich, any credit at all.
getalife
December 14th, 2011
8:54 pm
Warren in our corrupt senate is a good thing.
Carry that 1 % water jm.
Kamchak
December 14th, 2011
8:54 pm
He has a good organization and a decent fund for the campaign
And polling in the mid 20s.
Bruno
December 14th, 2011
8:54 pm
Check the polls.
It all comes down to that moment of truth in the voting booth. Wimp vs. leader. I’m betting on the leader.
Jm
December 14th, 2011
8:55 pm
Josef
Obama judgement is a myth.
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 14th, 2011
8:56 pm
Newt a leader?
Maybe lead, by his p3cker
Bruno
December 14th, 2011
8:56 pm
Obama’s campaign song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E30XxSYgmqo&feature=related
Erwin's cat
December 14th, 2011
8:58 pm
yet Roma still burns
Jm
December 14th, 2011
8:58 pm
Kam
At the end, votes and delegates are what matter
Not polls
But yes, they don’t look good
Welcome to the Occupation
December 14th, 2011
8:58 pm
Greedy One Percent
Brosephus
December 14th, 2011
8:59 pm
Bruno
You can count me out of that Newt vote count. Dude’s got too many personas for me. I don’t trust him one bit. He can change directions faster than Eric Metcalf on a kickoff return….
josef
I got tickled today to see an article on Yahoo’s front page from my hometown. There’s a park there, Noccalulu Falls, with a 90ft waterfall that some kayakers decided to ride over. I’m guessing they didn’t research how the park got it’s name.
Jm
December 14th, 2011
9:00 pm
Obama is a vampire enjoying the blood of the American worker
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 14th, 2011
9:01 pm
Newt may have a chance as long as he can get all his ex-wives to vote for him.
larry
December 14th, 2011
9:01 pm
Newts a leader ? The only thing Newt cares about is Newt. What about those people who will go into the voting booth and remember that Newt was the Fannie Mae Historian. and made over 1.6 million dollars doing that . Or that he wants to get rid of Child Labor Laws.
Im sorry, if thats your idea of a leader , then i do feel sorry for you .
bman
December 14th, 2011
9:01 pm
it seemed as if Newt was going to be the republican nominee. Now? He is getting a ton of bad press by anyone who is in front of a camera, or a microphone. Republicans hate him. Democrats hate him. He’s a right wing nut. He’s a crazy liberal.
They really waited until he was on top before this … ….
Kamchak
December 14th, 2011
9:02 pm
But yes, they don’t look good
Bachmann
Perry
Cain
The Donald
and now, Newt
All have lead the pack, while Mittens can’t get out of the 20s
Romney is the little engine that can’t.
getalife
December 14th, 2011
9:02 pm
Bruno,
Yup, the leader that got obl, crushed aq, won Libya and saved our country is no wimp.
The newt would lose by 30 and the gop know it.
larry
December 14th, 2011
9:02 pm
Adiois , night crew
Bruno
December 14th, 2011
9:04 pm
You can count me out of that Newt vote count. Dude’s got too many personas for me. I don’t trust him one bit.
You know I’m just stirring the pot a little, Brosephus. Obviously we’re not happy on the right side of the aisle due to the lack of outstanding candidates this election cycle. I do believe that Newt has the experience to be a good President, however, and would likely be a centrist.
TaxPayer
December 14th, 2011
9:07 pm
Newt Gingrinch! Bah! Humbug!
Brosephus
December 14th, 2011
9:07 pm
Obviously we’re not happy on the right side of the aisle due to the lack of outstanding candidates this election cycle.
Is it really because of the lack of outstanding candidates or is it the outstanding lack of candidates???
The only way I think Newt would stay to the center is if he had a Democratic Congress pushing him that way. I just don’t trust him enough to give him the remote control. He reminds me too much of my own DNA donor, slick talker, BS peddler, and partisaned sh*t stirrer all in one package.
getalife
December 14th, 2011
9:07 pm
The 1 % candidate is willard and their lobbyist is the newt and they both flipped flopped on all the issues.
The newt made a ad with Pelosi to fight with Al Gore to save our planet.
You cons are going to vote for that.
Too funny
No wonder the Obamas are in a great mood.
Mick
December 14th, 2011
9:07 pm
Bruno
@
December 14th, 2011
8:45 pm
That’s what’s known as a sukkers bet…
Welcome to the Occupation
December 14th, 2011
9:10 pm
Bruno: “I do believe that Newt has the experience to be a good President, however, and would likely be a centrist.”
I agree. There’s no such thing as “experience” for a position such as president – there are only the intellectual capacities that gives one a fighting chance once one is shot out of that existential cannon. Newt’s got those, no doubt about that. Less clear though is how he’ll handle the vast weight of history and geopolitical significance that will be placed squarely on his shoulders. On that score, I’m far from optimistic.
josef
December 14th, 2011
9:10 pm
Brosephus
Kinda makes you wonder, eh?
AmVet
December 14th, 2011
9:13 pm
For all the Newt nuts out there!
(Gawd I miss Herman. He too was comedy gold!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7-BBADPAvE&feature=related
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 14th, 2011
9:13 pm
If Newt gets to the WH and starts feeling patriotic we have to wonder if his heart will hold out.
Mick
December 14th, 2011
9:14 pm
If you look at all the repub candidates, the only ones you can truly say that aren’t itching to get us in some kind of war are romney, huntsman, and definately paul. The rest are jonesing for a fight with iran, we haven’t even begun to pay for all the others….
TaxPayer
December 14th, 2011
9:14 pm
There’s no such thing as “experience” for a position such as president
Except for that itsy bitsy thing called the incumbent.
getalife
December 14th, 2011
9:15 pm
I did enjoy watching that moonbat bachman attack the newt on CNN today.
She did a great job for the President.
Keep fighting moonbat bachmann.
Welcome to the Occupation
December 14th, 2011
9:20 pm
Oh and by the way, Newt is also on the wrong team. He’s a poster boy for transnational capital and he was basically lying, trying to score cheap political points when he sniped at Paul Ryan about his budget as being “social engineering from the right”. At the level of its content what he was saying was of course absolutely right, but since it was Newt being Newt, it quickly turned to the putrid slime of political lies and posturing and cynicism, which of course called for an equally disingenuous attempt to back-pedal afterward.
Jm
December 14th, 2011
9:23 pm
Obama is a 1%er carrying water for the 1%
getalife
December 14th, 2011
9:24 pm
jm,
The gop want to kill his reform on the banks.
You carry their water.
Own it jm.
AmVet
December 14th, 2011
9:24 pm
Common Sense, too funny. I guess laughing at that sleazebag is the best medicine.
Very early Doobie Brothers reprised in 2010…
(What a kickass band.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3GBT1bGIV4
Welcome to the Occupation
December 14th, 2011
9:28 pm
TaxPayer: “There’s no such thing as “experience” for a position such as president
Except for that itsy bitsy thing called the incumbent.”
True.
In a sense, that is.
On the other hand, one could argue that even after 3 and 1/2 years on the job, no person appears really all that strong — and certainly not invulnerable — when stacked up against all the endless demands of the job — as evidenced by the fact that there’s no such thing as a sitting president who’s not in danger of fierce attacks from political enemies or the no small amount of grumbling among their own party ranks. Like a Roman emperor, there’s no danger greater than the hour of your greatest triumph, and you stand at the center of an angry and restless world looking to get you out of the way.
Bruno
December 14th, 2011
10:01 pm
A Bookman first—”White Sun” by the Doobie Bros:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrV08Tyyy9s
Someone finally loaded it onto youtube. Too bad it’s a crappy recording.
Recon 0311 2533
December 14th, 2011
10:04 pm
Well stick my comment awaiting moderation where the sun never shines. Robot.
Kamchak
December 14th, 2011
10:05 pm
Well stick my comment awaiting moderation where the sun never shines. Robot.
Very well articulated.
Recon 0311 2533
December 14th, 2011
10:07 pm
Kam, thanks.
Kamchak
December 14th, 2011
10:08 pm
I think all of us who have had moderated comments can appreciate that. As an aside — have you ever dealt with Numrich?
Mick
December 14th, 2011
10:09 pm
recon
Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year – it is what we make it….
Recon 0311 2533
December 14th, 2011
10:14 pm
Mick, Merry Christmas and a very Happy prosperous New Year to you. God Bless.
getalife
December 14th, 2011
10:23 pm
dems are caving again on taxing the wealthy just like last time.
A gift for you cons.
Happy Holidays!
Mick
December 14th, 2011
10:27 pm
Tebowing is officially recognized as a word, will miracles never cease?
getalife
December 14th, 2011
10:31 pm
Funny, there are football players that worship Islam so I guess we will see them wear their religion on their sleeves too.
Robot
December 14th, 2011
10:34 pm
Recon: Domo arigato
nativist
December 14th, 2011
10:42 pm
happy rahmadan, feliz navidad, and a festivus for the rest of us!
Welcome to the Occupation
December 14th, 2011
10:44 pm
getalife: “dems are caving again on taxing the wealthy just like last time.”
Wonder who plays the “fall guy” for this one. They rotate usually.
The Democrats = cons lite
nativist
December 14th, 2011
10:47 pm
con lite tastes like zima…
Jm
December 14th, 2011
10:51 pm
Tebowing is what Obama does when he’s in dear old England when visiting the queen at noon.
andre
December 14th, 2011
10:56 pm
Jm=bowel movement
Jm
December 14th, 2011
11:01 pm
F china
Is Obama the spineless terd just going to let them tax US cars? Appears so.
Obama is a dbag.
Thulsa Doom
December 14th, 2011
11:06 pm
Jm,
Heard Trump the other day complaining that China tariffs our imports 25% and we tariff them 5%. Same with many of our allies-particularly in the western rim- South Korea and Japan tariff us pretty good according to him and refuse to open access to their car markets. Whether the U.S. is con or lib it seems to me that we’ve been letting them walk all over us for quite a while now-especially the Chinese. Trump is right about one thing. We gotta toughen up a bit and start some hardass negotiating on trade agreements. Enough is enough.
Thulsa Doom
December 14th, 2011
11:08 pm
Welcome to the Occupation,
The corollary to that is the Republicans = Dems Lite. Especially Bush 2.
Jm
December 14th, 2011
11:10 pm
Thulsa
Romney appears ready to go after china
Thulsa Doom
December 14th, 2011
11:25 pm
Jm,
Trump rose quickly when he made his faux run because he touched a nerve remarking how we let the world just run over us. If Romney just starts climbing aboard the same issues that made Trump a serious 3rd party candidate Romney can make a run at Newt. I still would love to see newt clean the community organizer’s clock in a debate though.
Soothsayer
December 14th, 2011
11:30 pm
You had to be there
Thelma Dumb and Jumbomind duel to the death! Don’t want to miss it!
Z
December 14th, 2011
11:37 pm
I read something last week about this and they said maybe 3500 jobs at most created from this pipe line to TX. Also most of this oil will be shipped offshore and won’t be for us. Also a huge spill I believe happened up in Penn. last year from another pipeline like they want to build to TX only this one goes through Penn. They are still trying to clean up this disaster in Penn. and it is almost impossible to clean this dirty oil up. It is not like a clean oil spill if there is such a thing..this oil sludge has many different chemicals in it..This pipe line is just not worth destroying this huge aquifer that this pipe line would run over..if there is a spill. This particular huge aquifer provides water to millions of people in the Midwest..We can not survive on this Earth without clean drinking water..it is just not worth taking this chance with this dirty oil and maybe many leaks..
Get Real
December 14th, 2011
11:58 pm
Jay your liberal garbage never ceases to amaze me
Acer706
December 15th, 2011
12:21 am
I will be very surprised if Obama agrees to a debate w/ Newt.
ld
December 15th, 2011
1:56 am
Maybe if you include the jobs required to clean up this proposed environmental disaster waiting to happen………..
USinUK
December 15th, 2011
4:52 am
Id – 1:56 – damned otter scrubbers!!!!
stands for decibels
December 15th, 2011
6:02 am
Shorter conservatives, this thread–
Public health, schmublic health.
Bud Wiser
December 15th, 2011
6:21 am
God forbid we put anyone to work, eh Bookman?
After all, one of your most fearless (and stupid, I might add) leaders has been quoted – “this is one of the biggest stimulus to our economy…”
Work BAD.
Unemployment GOOD.
Democrat law of the jungle (pun intended).
Mick
December 15th, 2011
6:25 am
usinuk
Hey! You’ve got a good sense of humor, what do you think, does this have potential-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFeYUNHtUG0
USinUK
December 15th, 2011
6:29 am
Mick – okay, I’ll start with the caveat that I don’t particularly like the 3 Stooges (don’t know many women who do)
so, my opinion may be a bit biased, but my first thought was WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
Why do you need to make a modern 3 Stooges?? hitting someone in the head with a hammer or poking them in the eye really doesn’t need updating …
USinUK
December 15th, 2011
6:32 am
Mick – having said that …
it’s going to be OSCAR WORTHY compared to this
http://tbogg.firedoglake.com/2011/12/13/mama-mia-for-dudes/
AmVet
December 15th, 2011
6:35 am
does this have potential-
First Mick, pay no nevermind to that female type person.
(Luv ya USing!)
Secondly, hell to the yeah it does! The day it comes out could be one of the greatest days in cinematic history! (OK, OK, a little hyperbole there, but still!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5j8Jioan1w
USinUK
December 15th, 2011
6:42 am
AmVet – heehee – love you, too … I freely admit that I’ve never gotten the humor of 3 Stooges – some of my closest friends love them, though, so I acknowledge that they are a part of the US culture, for better or worse.
I feel the same about Tom and Jerry … Roadrunner and Coyote, I get … but Tom and Jerry, not so much …
AmVet
December 15th, 2011
6:47 am
AmVet – heehee – love you, too
Oh wonderful day! Now I can head out to a very early meeting with a big smile on my face!
Later, good peeps…
Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk…
Normal
December 15th, 2011
6:48 am
‘Mornin’ gang…
http://news.icanhascheezburger.com/2011/12/14/political-videos-bad-lip-reading-soundbite-of-newt-gingrich/
Normal
December 15th, 2011
6:53 am
Gotta love ‘em,,,
http://icanhascheezburger.com/2011/12/14/funny-pictures-extreme-river-dancing/
Normal
December 15th, 2011
6:54 am
By the way, the banter about the Stooges inspired my 0648…
Normal
December 15th, 2011
6:56 am
…another “Narnia” in the maing?
http://icanhascheezburger.com/2011/12/14/funny-pictures-do-not-fear/
USinUK
December 15th, 2011
7:02 am
Normal – 6:48 – what’s up with the fruit panties?
USinUK
December 15th, 2011
7:09 am
Happiness is a webcam to keep an eye on the Wondermutt (she was poorly over the weekend, so now I can peep in on her during the day and make sure she’s doing okay)
thanks, techno-geeks!!!
Normal
December 15th, 2011
7:19 am
http://history.icanhascheezburger.com/2011/12/14/funny-pictures-history-oh-ye-of-little-faith/
Bud Wiser
December 15th, 2011
7:20 am
President Gingrich.
Gotta like the sound of that.
Get used to it, coming in Nov 2012.
Normal
December 15th, 2011
7:22 am
USinUK,
Glad to hear “Wonder-Mutt” is feeling better…
Web-Cams are fun. My Grandson’s school has classroom cams. I sneak a peek every so often…
I guess it’s all “Big Brother” stuff, but I sugar coat it as “Santa is watching you…”
TaxPayer
December 15th, 2011
7:22 am
Jm
December 14th, 2011
11:01 pm
F china
Is Obama the spineless terd just going to let them tax US cars? Appears so.
Obama is a dbag.
What would we do without jm and his thought provoking commentary.
Bud Wiser
December 15th, 2011
7:25 am
“The Keystone pipeline will NOT create 20,000 new jobs
Who could you find that would want to get off of unemployment benefits, food stamps and welfare anyway to get into a dead-end career like the oil industry?
We’re going green and its going great!
Just check out Solyndra!
USinUK
December 15th, 2011
7:25 am
Norma – 7:22 – Santa is webcamming you!!
Mick
December 15th, 2011
7:29 am
usinuk
OK, I guess the stooges are to men as those housewives reality shows are to women. I just think it takes a lot chutzpah to even try to pull an updated stooges off. The scene with moe and snooki is already a classic to me. Curly was definately a physical comedic genius, just a very funny guy…
Normal
December 15th, 2011
7:38 am
TaxPayer
December 15th, 2011
7:22 am
‘Mornin’, Taxie…
My only explaination for jm is that he gets paid for what he posts and that he will do anything for money.
Jm
December 15th, 2011
7:46 am
Taxpayer and Normal
You guys are a joke
I can’t recall the last time you said anything policy related
Just a bunch of liberal love fest from you guys
Jm
December 15th, 2011
7:48 am
Why don’t you guys form your own thoughts rather than just cheering Jay on?
Probably because you don’t have any thoughts of your own.
TaxPayer
December 15th, 2011
7:49 am
Just a bunch of liberal love fest from you guys
Make love, not hate.
independent thinker
December 15th, 2011
7:50 am
Hey if Newt gets in office he can have all those disadvantaged children who have no work experience working on the pipeline for a couple bucks an hour- look at the savings for those poor suffering oil companies!
Normal
December 15th, 2011
7:56 am
Well jm,
From what I’ve read in your posts, you have no original thoughts either. You just parrot Rush, Fox, and other right wing “media”. When you start playing, so will I…
TaxPayer
December 15th, 2011
7:56 am
I can’t recall the last time you said anything policy related
F China
I recommend a discussion regarding the use of condoms in order to avoid unintentional pregnancies.
Obama is a dbag.
The US should take the initiative here and increase production of vinegar for use in dbags.
There, jm, are my thoughts on your key policy concerns.
Normal
December 15th, 2011
7:56 am
Oh…and jm…peace, dude…
Jay
December 15th, 2011
7:58 am
Sheets.
Normal
December 15th, 2011
7:58 am
Taxie,
Of course jm would be the poster boy concerning the use of condoms…
Donovan
December 15th, 2011
8:22 am
Let’s give Mr. Bookman another hand at trying to convince his adversaries that a study done by another liberal source is credible.
Why not have the New York Slimes, Washington Post, LA Times, or the DNC do their independent study, as well?
Good old Jay boy fails to tell you that he and the left will put down any rationale that this pipeline is going to provide more jobs and energy supply for this country. They all stick together on the premise that this venture is against the ideology of environmental terrorists. It’s a Green Thing to these left wing kooks and yet another disgraceful obstruction of commerce.
Please, get off your commie butts and pick up the American flag. Your liberal agenda is killing this fine country.
Shame on you and the horse you came riding in on.
Hard Hat Democrats Could Abandon Obama as Jobs Are Sacrificed to Exvironmentalism – New York Sun | Lucknow Jobs
December 15th, 2011
7:15 pm
[...] (blog)Keystone pipeline jobs claims: a bipartisan fumbleWashington Post (blog)NPR (blog) -Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) -Naples Daily Newsall 462 news [...]
Z
December 16th, 2011
10:52 am
Concerning a comment I made earlier..The spill from a pipeline carrying this dirty oil was in Michigan not Pennsylvania..Sorry about that.
Cory
December 17th, 2011
4:26 am
What CRACKS me up: people in Nebraska, a very red state believe me (save for LIncoln, Omaha, and South Sioux) doesn’t even WANT this thing! They KNOW it’s gonna screw the state over.