How President Biden's Executive Order on Keystone Pipeline Affects Jobs
- Author: Kelly Cooke
- Posted: 2024-03-28
On January 20, President Biden signed an executive order that revoked the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. This order halted its construction in the United States. Opponents of the President immediately responded that the order would cause tens of thousands of lost jobs. Here's what the executive order will really do to the oil and natural gas development and construction jobs related to the pipeline.
TC Energy Corporation Responds
The Keystone XL pipeline was under construction, About 1,100 workers were engaged with the construction project. The halting of the work will cause about 1,000 layoffs, explained the TC Energy Corporation. The finished pipeline was to open in late 2021. It would have employed about 11,000 workers. Their collective annual wages would have been $1.6 billion. The energy company noted that most of the jobs generated by the pipeline's construction would be temporary or seasonal work, not full-time, permanent jobs.
What Social Media Posts Claimed Would Happen
Social media is known to be a major source of fake news and false information. Posts on various social media venues claimed that the revocation of the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline would destroy 11,000 jobs and $2 billion in annual wages. However, the pipeline never actually employed that many people. Their wages would not have reached $2 billion, according to the company that would have owned and operated the pipeline.
Social Media Companies Flag the False Posts
Social media companies state that they are trying to remove fake news posts and halt the spread of disinformation. The posts about the Keystone XL pipeline were flagged as fake news. However, new ones are popping up faster than the social media platforms can tag or remove them. There are new posts popping up that claim anywhere from 12,000 to 83,000 jobs will be lost as a result of President Biden's executive order.
What President Biden's Order Does
The executive order issued by President Biden revokes the work permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. That work permit was signed by the former president, Donald J. Trump, on March 29, 2019. At the time, environmental, Native American and cultural groups opposed the permit. The project requires the support of the United States government. Without the permit and financial support from the government, there's no way for the project to continue.
About the Proposed Pipeline
The pipeline was supposed to extend for 875 miles. It would have transported a heavy crude oil mixture from the western areas of Canada to Steele City, NE. In Steele City, the oil would connect to another pipeline that would transport it to refineries located on the Gulf Coast of the United States. A State Department report on the pipeline from 2014 stated that the pipeline would not make a large contribution to carbon emissions. However, a different report from independent scientists and environmental groups described the threat the pipeline would be for the rivers and forests of Alberta, CA. The entire project has been a source of debate among politicians, environmentalists and scientists over the issues of carbon emissions, fossil fuels, climate change and the need for renewable energy.
What the Obama Administration Did
The Obama administration denied TC Energy's request for the permit to construct the pipeline. This denial was in 2015. Once Trump took office, he approved it with an executive order. Construction began in April 2020. A federal court halted construction, explaining that the whole project had to go through a complete endangered species review. TC Energy appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court upheld the lower court's ruling in July 2020.
Where the Project Stands Now
By the time President Biden signed the executive order halting construction of the pipeline, only 1.2 miles of it had been completed. This section is located in Montana, near the border of the United States and Canada. Most of the jobs that the project would have created would have been temporary. According to the 2014 State Department report, only 50 jobs would have been created. Of those 50 jobs, 35 would have been permanent for pipeline maintenance and operations, and 15 would have been temporary. This is consistent with what TC Energy stated. It seems that the social media claims stretched the truth a great distance. While some jobs will be lost, 50 jobs is a number nowhere near the number of 11,000 to 83,000 that various social media posts claimed would be lost.
