Joe Biden’s Department of Energy revealed in a report quietly published at the end of 2022 that the president had killed tens of thousands of jobs when he abruptly canceled the Keystone XL pipeline project with the stroke of a pen.
While stating that “the high-end figure overstates jobs,” the DOE acknowledged that some studies showed that the project created between 16,149 and 59,468 temporary jobs, though not all were lost due to its cancellation.
The study “estimated that the construction of the KXL pipeline would contribute $3.4 billion (or 0.02 percent) to the United States Gross Domestic Product,” according to the report.
The president’s first-day executive order, Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Address the Climate Crisis killed the pipeline.
Biden stated in the order that the Keystone XL project, which aimed to transport crude oil from Alberta’s oil sands to the Gulf of Mexico, “disserves the United States’ national interest.”
According to the report, the Biden administration decided to revoke the pipeline’s permits because “its construction and operation would be inconsistent with U.S. climate goals and would undermine the United States’ global energy and climate leadership role.”
The figures were derived from a 2014 Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, which stated that the project would create 50 permanent jobs.
“Construction jobs would be more significant but temporary; if construction were to take two years, about 3,900 direct jobs would be created annually during construction, and 21,050 U.S. total jobs would be created, counting indirect and induced jobs,” the report stated.
“Other estimates for temporary jobs during the construction phase ranged from 16,149 to 59,468 annually for a two-year period. However, the study includes segments of the Keystone pipeline that were not related to the XL portion, and jobs corresponding to those sections that were built were realized.
“Additionally, the high-end figure comes from this study which faced significant criticism for including in its analysis project inputs from India, Russia, and Russian companies in Canada, thus including jobs outside the United States.”
But it was never just about the jobs. Remember how gas prices skyrocketed in 2022? Biden’s response was as follows:
REPORTER: What can you do about skyrocketing gas prices?
BIDEN: "Can't do much right now. Russia's responsible." pic.twitter.com/UZrBUEsliQ
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 8, 2022
While one could argue that the pipeline would not have been operational by last spring, it did send a message to the oil and gas industry: slow your pumping and refining and invest in new fossil-fuel infrastructure at your own risk.
The administration then blamed those companies for the gas price debacle and told them to increase output or else — something even CNN’s John Berman had to point out when Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said energy producers “need to increase supply,” including “by drilling more.”
“Five years from now, ten years from now, are you telling me you want them drilling for more oil, you want the refineries putting out more gasoline in five or ten years?” Berman asked.
“What we’re saying is today we need that supply increased,” Granholm said. “Of course, in five or ten years — actually, in the immediate, we are also pressing on the accelerator, if you will, to move toward clean energy so that we don’t have to be under the thumb of petro-dictators like Putin or at the whim of the volatility of fossil fuels.”
In other words, as the Biden administration tries to end drilling and fossil-fuel infrastructure, oil and gas companies are supposed to subsidize the government by paying for drilling and fossil-fuel infrastructure.
This clip is ASTONISHING.
Energy Sec. @JenGranholm demands energy companies to make massive investments to increase oil supply while simultaneously saying they want to shut them down over the next 5-10 years.
WHAT IS THIS WHITE HOUSE?! pic.twitter.com/CTgC4dk92x
— Jason Howerton (@jason_howerton) June 15, 2022
As for all the jobs lost — well, there’s always wind and solar.
John Kerry is asked what his message would be to oil and gas workers who "see an end to their livelihoods":
"What President Biden wants to do is make sure that those folks have better choices… That they can be the people to go to work to make the solar panels." pic.twitter.com/i9TYXlD9Jg
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) January 27, 2021
Or maybe they can learn to code.
Republicans were not pleased with the Biden administration finally admitting what we had all been saying — and doing so quietly — in the final days of 2022.
“The Biden administration finally owned up to what we have known all along — killing the Keystone XL pipeline cost good-paying jobs, hurt Montana’s economy, and was the first step in the Biden administration’s war on oil and gas production in the United States,” Montana Sen. Steve Daines said in a Thursday statement. “Unfortunately, the administration continues to pursue energy production anywhere but the United States. These policies may appeal to the woke Left, but hurt Montana’s working families. I’ll keep fighting back against Biden’s anti-energy agenda and supporting Montana energy projects and jobs.”
“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. Jim Risch of Idaho added. “To make matters worse, his decision moved the U.S. further away from energy independence and lower gas prices at a time when inflation and gas prices are drastically impacting Americans’ pocketbooks. 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.”
But what can we expect? This is not a president who will take responsibility for his failures, especially when the blame can be easily shifted to energy companies.
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