The Biden administration recently published a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) congressionally mandated report that pointed out the economic benefits the U.S. would have benefitted from via the Keystone XL Pipeline. The federal project’s permits were revoked by President Joe Biden early in his presidency.
The president’s actions on the permits brought the massive project to a screeching halt. The late December report estimates that a functioning pipeline would have been valuable, with 60,000 jobs and some $9.6 billion in economic benefits.
“The Biden administration finally owned up to what we have known all along — killing the Keystone XL Pipeline cost good-paying jobs, hurt Montana’s economy, and was the first step in the Biden administration’s war on oil and gas production in the United States,” said Montana Senator Steve Daines of Montana in a statement.
Daines lamented what he said is a squandering of ample economic opportunity and a stunning loss for working families.
“Unfortunately, the administration continues to pursue energy production anywhere but the United States. These policies may appeal to the woke left but hurt Montana’s working families,” said Daines. “I’ll keep fighting back against Biden’s anti-energy agenda and supporting Montana energy projects and jobs.”
Daines also tweeted, “This overreaching rule from the Biden admin is a step in the wrong direction that infringes on the rights of Montana farmers, ranchers, and landowners.”
Republican Senator Jim Risch of Idaho and Daines pushed Biden’s Energy Department to release the report findings, which had combined into the passing of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
The department was obligated to publish the report on the pipeline within 90 days of the bill’s passage; however, for unknown reasons, the agency delayed the release.
Keystone Pipeline would have pumped thousands of barrels into the U.S.
If President Donald Trump had been victorious in the 2020 election, the Keystone XL Pipeline might have been completed in January 2022. According to TC Energy, an “additional 830,000 barrels of crude oil from Canada” would have been pumped into the United States.
According to reports, an agreement between TC Energy and four labor unions was signed in August 2020, which pledged to create 42,000 American jobs, and total wages nearing $2 billion.
However, in June 2021, TC Energy scrapped the project after months spent contesting the Biden administration’s revocation of the permit.
“The Department of Energy finally admitted to the worst-kept secret about the Keystone Pipeline: President Biden’s decision to cancel the Keystone XL Pipeline sacrificed thousands of American jobs,” said Risch.
“To make matters worse, his decision moved the U.S. further away from energy independence and lower gas prices at a time when inflation and gas prices are drastically impacting Americans’ pocketbooks.”
“The president must turn to American-made energy and jobs rather than dictators and despots to fix the energy crisis he created on his first day in office,” Risch added.
