The New York Times published an interview with President Obama online on Saturday, July 27th, where he speculates on how many jobs building the Keystone XL pipeline will create.
“There is no evidence that that’s true. The most realistic estimates are this might create maybe 2,000 jobs during the construction of the pipeline, which might take a year or two, and then after that we’re talking about somewhere between 50 and 100 jobs in an economy of 150 million working people.”
In January 2013, Consumer Energy Alliance partnered with Creighton University economist Ernie Goss to evaluate KXL’s impact on job creation just in Nebraska. The resulting study found “The project would create 5,500 jobs during construction and 302 jobs afterward. The figures include both direct and indirect jobs, paying an average annual salary of $38,000, Goss said.” (Source)
The CEA/Goss Study found 5,500 jobs would be created in Nebraska alone. The U.S. State Department contradicts President Obama’s claim. From its Draft Supplemental EIS released this spring the U.S. State Department estimates over 42,100 jobs nationwide will be impacted.
Including direct, indirect, and induced effects, the proposed Project would potentially support approximately 42,100 average annual jobs across the United States over a 1- to 2- year construction period (of which, approximately 3,900 would be directly employed in construction activities). This employment would potentially translate to approximately $2.05 billion in earnings.
David Holt, President of CEA said:
Politics Aside, Independent Studies Show KXL Construction Creates Jobs. The president cannot give lip service to the economy on a Wednesday then ignore an opportunity to create jobs on a Saturday. The Keystone XL pipeline is a construction project that will put paychecks on the table for union and non union workers.
