Anti-Pipeline Rulings Take Away Thousands of American Jobs

April 17, 2020

Even as the country struggles to combat the consequences of COVID-19, the battle for the fate of the energy sector continues to rage. The Keystone XL pipeline, in recent years, has become an epicenter for the clash between environmental radicals and the oil and gas industry. The controversy now represents a fault-line for the future of the continent.

Earlier in the week, a federal judge revoked a nationwide water crossings permit required to complete construction of the pipeline. While just one in a long line of hurdles, the company running the project, TC Energy, now faces various logistical complications and must delay their work until the Army Corps of Engineers can redo the environmental assessment.

Ben Lieberman, a senior fellow with the Competitive Enterprise Institute describes the situation:

“A lot of things have to go right in order for a project to get a green light, and only one thing has to go wrong to stop it.” He went on to say, “with the coronavirus-afflicted country reeling from staggering job losses and a national unemployment rate that could hit double-digits, pipelines should be considered among the infrastructure projects that can jump-start the economy.”

A study by the Perryman Group projected that the Keystone Pipeline could create in excess of 250,000 jobs. Upon completion, the pipeline would transport over 800,000 barrels of oil per day from Alberta, Canada, to Nebraska and then through other TC Energy infrastructure to Gulf Coast refiners.

Dan Kish, a senior fellow with the Institute for Energy Research, described the project as, “the most-studied, most-litigated and most advanced pipeline of its kind.” Kish also lamented the legal barriers imposed by the courts, “The judge’s decision, which is also liable to affect other job-creating projects throughout the U.S., appears to be nothing less than economic sabotage at a time of national emergency.”

The convergence of the energy sector and the eco-left is a zero-sum game; like with tectonic plates, there may be a great deal of friction, but eventually, one plate will overcome the other. While the oil and gas industry provides employment and economic prosperity, radical environmentalists present only inane hypotheticals and Democratic dogma. America, as a whole, must overcome the progressive propaganda and ensure the only destination for their policies is the subduction zone.