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Okay. He didn’t use the word “bullshit”. But, other than that, good news: At least we now know that Obama<\/i> knows the jobs claims and gas price claims made by the Keystone XL pipeline proponents are bullshit.<\/p>\nOkay. He didn’t use the word “bullshit”. But, other than that, good news: At least we now know that Obama<\/i> knows the jobs claims and gas price claims made by the Keystone XL pipeline proponents are bullshit.<\/p>\n
Via The Hill…<\/a><\/p>\n Obama, in some of his most extensive remarks ever on the pipeline, also said Canada could “potentially be doing more”\u009d to curb emissions from the oil sands.<\/p>\n His comments follow his closely watched late June pledge that Keystone XL would only receive a federal permit if the “net”\u009d effects of the pipeline would not “significantly exacerbate”\u009d carbon pollution. “We haven’t seen specific ideas or plans. But all of that will go into the mix in terms of [Secretary of State] John Kerry’s decision or recommendation on this issue,”\u009d he said.<\/p><\/div>\n So, “maybe 2,000 jobs during the construction of the pipeline…and then after that we’re talking about somewhere between 50 and 100 [chuckles] jobs in a economy of 150 million working people.” Good to see the President’s people actually allowed him to notice that very key point<\/a> that has otherwise been allowed to become, until now, a key talking point for the fossil-fuel industry spokesmen that are Fox “News” and the Republicans (and too many Democrats.)<\/p>\n By way of comparison to reality, here are the kind of lies the Republican leadership<\/em> are still<\/i> telling about this. Rep. Eric Cantor lied to his brain-dead followers on his official House Majority Leader webpage<\/i><\/a> just this past week by listing “Three Ways to Immediately Grow Jobs and Strengthen the Middle Class”. His very first suggested “way” [emphasis added<\/i>]…<\/p>\n “20,000 direct and 100,000 indirect jobs”? Really, Mr. Cantor? Because the independent Cornell Global Labor Institute report on this [PDF]<\/a> finds that the data from the actual owners of the pipeline<\/em>, TransCanada, seriously dispute that claim. “Based on the figures provided by TransCanada for the Canadian section of the pipeline,” the report explains, “the new permanent US pipeline jobs in the US number as few as 50.”<\/p>\n“Republicans have said that this would be a big jobs generator. There is no evidence that that’s true,”\u009d Obama said in a New York Times<\/i> interview<\/a> published Saturday.<\/p>\n
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\n“I meant what I said; I’m going to evaluate this based on whether or not this is going to significantly contribute to carbon in our atmosphere. And there is no doubt that Canada at the source in those tar sands could potentially be doing more to mitigate carbon release,”\u009d he said.
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\n“[M]y hope would be that any reporter who is looking at the facts would take the time to confirm that the most realistic estimates are this might create maybe 2,000 jobs during the construction of the pipeline “\u201c which might take a year or two “\u201c and then after that we’re talking about somewhere between 50 and 100 [chuckles] jobs in a economy of 150 million working people,”\u009d Obama said, according to a Times transcript.
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\nAsked if stronger steps by Canada to curb emissions from energy-intensive oil sands projects could “mitigate”\u009d concerns about Keystone, Obama largely demurred.<\/p>\n1. Approve the Keystone Pipeline: The Keystone XL Pipeline has been awaiting approval for over 1,750 days now. It has already undergone extensive scientific review and the failure of the Administration to authorize the pipeline is costing us 20,000 direct and 100,000 indirect jobs<\/b>.<\/div>\n