Keystone XL a Job Killer, Says Cornell

Pipeline fires, spills and explosions exact a toll on local economies that industry refuses to account for in its job estimate. Image by Tom Burford.

Echoing some of our previous posts, the Cornell Global Labor Institute has just released it’s analysis of the job impacts from the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.  Their take?  It will kill more jobs than it creates.

Cornell says:

TransCanada and The Perryman Group’s [a TransCanada subcontractor] job estimates do not consider the jobs that might be destroyed as a result of the pipeline and the expanded use of tar sands oil.

Here’s the details on the industry’s omissions:

1. FUEL PRICES WILL RISE in 15 midwest states, as a result of the pipeline. TransCanada’s own consultant testified to the Canadian National Energy Board that part of the purpose of the pipeline is to raise the price of heavy crude oil in the midwest.

2. SPILLS WILL BE AN ECONOMIC DRAG. Phase 1 of the Keystone has spilled fourteen times in its first year of operation. Contamination of rivers, drinking water sources and the Ogallala Aquifer in the region threaten the jobs and livelihoods of farmers, ranchers and those working in tourism.

3. JOB LOSS IN CANADA.  Keystone XL will end plans to build ‘upgraders’ in Alberta that were expected to generate 22,000 construction and refinery jobs and arrest tar sands development. Refining capacity in Texas has recently been expanded to accommodate tar sands oil–most of those jobs are now gone from the U.S. economy.

4. MORE HEALTH COSTS FROM POLLUTION.  Keystone XL will raise emissions and reduce air quality in both Canada and the U.S. Treating respiratory and other illnesses incurs economic costs and therefore kills jobs.

See the full analysis by clicking here:  CornellU_KeystoneXL

The Obama administration is due to decide by the end of the year whether the Keystone XL pipeline is in the national interest.  You can tell President Obama to stop the pipeline and protect the environment from high carbon fuel spills. Take action here!