Keystone XL Pipeline Could Destroy More Jobs than It Creates

Newswise — ITHACA, N.Y. — Energy industry claims of jobs created by the TransCanada Corporation Keystone XL Pipeline are inflated at best and misleading at the worst, according to a new report by Cornell University’s ILR Global Labor Institute.

The Global Labor Institute (GLI) report, “Pipe Dreams? Jobs Gained, Jobs Lost by the Construction of Keystone XL,” notes that the project may actually kill more jobs than it creates.

The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would transport oil extracted from Canadian tar sands from Alberta, Canada, to the Gulf of Mexico in Texas. The U.S. State Department is reviewing the proposal and along with President Obama, must determine if the project is in the national interest before issuing a decision.

“This report questions the jobs claims promoted by TransCanada Corporation, the American Petroleum Institute and other proponents of the pipeline. The report’s findings should generate a high level of skepticism regarding the value of the Keystone pipeline as an important source of American jobs,” said Sean Sweeney, director of the Cornell ILR Global Labor Institute. “It is GLI’s assessment that the construction of Keystone XL will create far fewer jobs in the U.S. than its proponents have claimed and may actually destroy more jobs than it generates.”

For example, job projections by TransCanada and the American Petroleum Institute fail to consider the large number of jobs that could be lost by construction of Keystone XL — including jobs lost due to consumers in the Midwest paying 10 to 20 cents more per gallon of gasoline and diesel fuel, as Keystone XL diverts oil from refineries in the Midwest to the Gulf region.

Lara Skinner, associate director of research at the Cornell Global Labor Institute, said, “The company’s claim that Keystone XL will create 20,000 direct construction and manufacturing jobs in the U.S. is unsubstantiated. There is strong evidence to suggest that a large portion of the primary material input for KXL — steel pipe — will not even be produced in the U.S.” The report is available online at the Global Labor Institute web site: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/globallaborinstitute/