Industry Studies Are Misleading; Project May Kill More Jobs Than It Creates.
It is important to take a realistic and honest look at the jobs claims. First, always read the fine print. Yes, TransCanada has a fine print disclaimer about their “forward looking information” as it directly relates to any economic benefits? This can be found on their website. Below is an excerpt:
“This news release may contain certain information that is forward looking and is subject to important risks and uncertainties.” “All forward-looking statements reflect TransCanada’s beliefs and assumptions based on information available at the time the statements were made. Actual results or events may differ from those predicted in these forward-looking statements.”
“Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is given as of the date it is expressed in this news release or otherwise, and to not use future-oriented information or financial outlooks for anything other than their intended purpose. TransCanada undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.”
Currently, TransCanada is facing a potential inquiry into whether it deliberately deceived investors by inflating the job-creation potential of the Keystone XL project. A complaint has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over TransCanada’s “false or misleading statements about the proposed Keystone XL pipeline project.”
Specifically, TransCanada has asserted that each mile of KXL pipeline constructed in the U.S. would create American jobs at a rate that is 67 times higher than job creation totals given by the company to Canadian officials for the Canadian portion of the pipeline.
Based off information provided by TransCanada, The State Department’s best case scenario for temporary jobs in the U.S. is only 5,000 to 6,000; – not the 20,000 that industry and industry backed politicians claim.
The number of people needed to operate and maintain the 1,661-mile (2,673-kilometer) pipeline may be as few as 20, according to the U.S. State Department, or as many as a few hundred, according to TransCanada.
In a Nov. 11 interview on CNN, TransCanada Vice President Robert Jones said permanent jobs would be “in the hundreds, certainly not in the thousands.” In addition, TransCanada’s CEO acknowledges the number of temporary construction jobs to be 6,500.
Independent studies have been conducted which put the numbers at as few as 50 permanent jobs and as few as 2,500 to 4,650 total temporary construction jobs for two years and many of those jobs already exist within the company but yet are still counted in the total. These reports are more consistent with actual job creation numbers from the current operational Keystone project.
Cornell Global Labor Institute’s new report, Pipe Dreams? Jobs Gained, Jobs Lost by the Construction of Keystone XL (pdf) examines the job impacts of TransCanada Corportation’s Keystone XL Pipeline, the proposed pipeline that would transport tar sands oil almost 2,000 miles from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf of Mexico in Texas. The report reviews claims made by TransCanada and the American Petroleum Institute that the project will create 20,000 construction and manufacturing and 119,000 (direct, indirect and induced) jobs.
The report concludes that the job estimates put forward by TransCanada are unsubstantiated and the project will not only create fewer jobs than industry states, but that the project could actually kill more jobs than it creates.
http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/globallaborinstitute/research/Keystonexl.html
