As a justification for withdrawing the permits for the Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline, which would have connected Canadian pipelines to pipelines in the Midwest and ultimately to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast, President Joe Biden said the pipeline was not justified because we didn’t need the oil and it wouldn’t benefit the economy or produce jobs. We now know he lied.
Even before Biden made his decision to kill the pipeline project, studies showed just the opposite was true. Now, we have further proof of Biden’s duplicity courtesy of the Department of Energy (DOE). In a quiet release during the holidays when most Americans are distracted and not paying close attention to the news, the DOE issued a report that details the significant benefits the United States missed out on when Biden withdrew the pipeline permit as one of his first acts after entering the Oval Office.
The report has been largely ignored by the corrupt mainstream media.
The new report says 16,149 to 59,000 jobs would have been created during the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, with dozens more permanent jobs created to manage, maintain, and operate it. The economic benefits to the local and national economy would have been to the tune of $3.4 to $9.6 billion.
The project was supposed to add a new segment to the pre-existing pipeline that begins in Alberta, Canada, and ends at refineries in Texas. That added capacity would have supplied an additional 830,000 barrels of oil per day, with most of that coming from Canada’s oil sands.
Unfortunately, after more than a decade of regulatory whiplash, uncertainty, and hostility, TC Energy, the Calgary-based company that led the project, officially terminated it, leaving nothing but a press release and map of the terminated pipeline section on its website.
In addition to insisting KXL would not benefit the U.S. economy, the Biden administration claimed the pipeline would harm America’s climate goals. However, it is difficult to see how that is the case (if you believe those climate goals are necessary) considering the fact that the oil is being produced and eventually delivered to the United States. And it will still be used. The only real change is that rather than being delivered through net-zero emissions pipeline, it is now delivered by freight trains and semi trucks, which actually emit the very greenhouse gases the environmental lunatics are so concerned about.
Even more laughably, the other main reason Biden nixed the pipeline is because it would make him look bad to his friends abroad. In the Biden administration’s words, it would “undermine the global energy and climate leadership role of the United States.” Surely, they can’t be worried about looking bad to our allies in Europe, where electricity rates have skyrocketed and coal-fired power plants are making a comeback?
Interestingly, Biden’s buddies in Canada were none too pleased with the sudden cancellation. In 2021, Reuters reported the Canadian government was disappointed that Biden immediately canceled the project. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney vowed legal action, and said Biden’s decision was “a gut punch for the Canadian and Alberta economies.” He added that Biden’s foolish decision was an “insult” to Canada. A lawsuit was filed, spearheaded by the attorneys general of several states, and damages were requested by the Alberta government. Regrettably, TC Energy’s cancellation of the project rendered the suit “moot,” according to the U.S. government. Eventually, the case was thrown out.
What’s more, even Canadian indigenous leaders supported KXL. The president of the National Coalition of Chiefs called the cancellation, “a blow to the First Nations that are involved right now in working with TC Energy to access employment training and contracting opportunities.” Indeed, Canadian First Nations groups owned a 12 percent equity stake in KXL.
Had the KXL pipeline been built, it is unlikely oil and gas prices today would be as high as they are. Perhaps more importantly, had he not killed the project, Biden would certainly not have had to drain the Strategic Petroleum Reserve or go begging hat in hand to authoritarian governments, first to Saudi Arabia and then to Venezuela, to increase oil exports to the United States.
The Keystone XL pipeline was not the absolute end-all-be-all for the economy or energy independence, but the costs of canceling it are a lot worse than the imagined international pooh-poohing that might have occurred had Biden allowed the project to be completed. Former Obama Secretary of Defense Robert Gates once said Joe Biden “has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.” So, the boneheaded decision to kill the pipeline is really just par for the course for Biden.
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Author: Linnea Lueken
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