Groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable say they speak for the country's business interests.
When it comes to the Keystone XL pipeline, they most definitely do not.
In his "State of American Business speech," U.S. Chamber president Tom Donohue once again trotted out his fantasy claims about the importance to our economy of this foreign pipeline scheme.
Mr. Donohue painted the pipeline as a savior for America's economy, saying it would put "20,000 Americans to work right away and up to 250,000 over the life of the project." Business Roundtable President John Engler is making similarly false claims.
But TransCanada, the company that wants to build the export line, acknowledges in a CNN interview here it will only create a few hundred permanent jobs in the United States. The State Department's analysis (see the department's EIS, p. 3.10-80 here) shows that only 20 -- that's right, 20 -- full-time U.S. jobs will be created after construction is finished.
Another piece of fantasy that Mr. Donohue advances is that the Keystone Pipeline will provide our country with more energy security, and that we'll have access to oil from our friendly neighbor to the north.
The truth about this project is that a Canadian company wants to run this pipeline through the heartland of the United States for the purpose of transporting the toxic sludge known as tar sands bitumen to Gulf of Mexico refineries. From there, the majority of this product is destined for the global oil market, where we'll have no more access to it than we do to oil pumped in the Middle East.
And the cherry on top of this proposition is that for very few jobs and no increased access to oil, we get to assume the liability of this project and its negative impact on our land, water and atmosphere.
What a deal.
There are other big risks as well. Remaining dependent on oil -- and yes in this case it is foreign oil -- keeps our economy hostage to other countries. Remember, most of the oil that runs through this pipeline will end up on the world market where it is just as likely to end up in China as it is in Cleveland. It won't reduce our gas prices here one bit.
And then there are the lost opportunity costs. As long as we keep supporting ways to prolong our dependence on oil, the farther we fall behind on innovation of new energy sources and on building a more sustainable economy based on clean, renewable energy.
Instead of putting our support behind a Canadian company that just wants the right of way to move its product down the heart of our country, we should be putting more support behind the innovative U.S. companies that are trying to develop clean, domestic renewable energy we can harness right here in the United States.
You won't hear this from the oil lobby, but the renewable energy industry is where the real jobs are. It is the brightest spot in our economy. The number of jobs in the solar industry alone doubled last year, and are expected to grow by another 26 percent in the current year. Try to find another industry growing at that rate.
Contrast that with the oil and gas industry. Despite raking in $546 billion in profits in the past five years, the oil and gas industry laid off more than 11,000 American workers -- even while simultaneously charging record prices at the pump.
It's time to move forward toward real energy security and a cleaner, renewable energy economy in the United States that will foster real American innovation and create real American jobs.
Keystone XL is against the best interest of our country.
And yet, San Francisco Democrats claim that 37,000-43,000 jobs will be created by a 1.7 mile subway extension.
http://www.mtc.ca.gov/projects/central_subway/
Let's see how that works in the next election. Stand up in front of the unemployed and say "I could have created more jobs, but some of them were only temporary, so I didn't bother".
Economics 101 says that economic recoveries tend to be self sustaining. The income and expeditures from "temporary" jobs help create more long lasting opprotunities.
At any rate, this "temporary job" canard could be tossed at just about any infrastructure project. Bridges, highways, dams, etc. The jobs are most intense while they build it, then less so afterwards. So, the author is saying let's not bother with infrastructure?
At any rate, let's bring Keystone XL front and center in the election. Something tells me the voters will not agree with the author, anymore than they enjoyed turning down their thermostats and putting on cardigan sweaters for Jimmy Carter.
.then we both would be wrong....
.the costs associated with the TOXIC polution from refining this crap will be the health of the children & the elderly downwind of the refinery...
.those are real people & their lives & their health are more valuable than 20 full time jobs..
no wonder CANADA doen't want to refine this toxic mess....but texas loves this sh it...
http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparemaptable.jsp?ind=64&cat=2
WASHINGTON, D.C. - A federal grand jury in Corpus Christi, Tex., today returned a 97-count indictment against Koch Industries Inc., Koch Petroleum Group, L.P., and four corporate employees charging them with environmental crimes at a Texas oil refinery.
The defendants are charged with violating federal air and hazardous waste laws at Koch Petroleum Group's West Plant refinery near Corpus Christi. The indictment also charges the defendants with conspiracy and making false statements to Texas environmental officials.
The West Plant is subject to Clean Air Act standards that limit emissions of benzene. In 1977, the EPA added benzene to the list of hazardous air pollutants based on scientific reports strongly suggesting an increased incidence of leukemia in humans exposed to benzene...
...Koch Industries and Koch Petroleum Group were informed by an employee that the West Plant had at least 91 metric tons of uncontrolled benzene in its liquid waste streams, some 15 times greater than the 6 metric ton limit that applied to the refinery.
"Companies that produce dangerous pollutants simply cannot focus on profit and efficiency at the expense of a community's health," said Lois Schiffer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the environment at the Justice Department....
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2000/September/573enrd.htm
The oil refining industry will be creating refining jobs for as long as the pipeline is in place.