Biden Energy secretary fails to disclose jobs killed by Keystone XL pipeline cancelation
Several lawmakers sent a letter to Sec. Jennifer Granholm urging she report the number of jobs lost when the pipeline was canceled
Sen. Steve Daines highlights the impact of canceling the Keystone XL pipeline
Daines said the Biden admin has not complied with a law requiring her to report on the number of jobs lost when the pipeline was canceled
EXCLUSIVE - Several lawmakers sent a letter to Biden’s Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm demanding she complies with a law requiring her agency to disclose the number of jobs lost when President Joe Biden canceled the Keystone XL pipeline.
"At the time of its closure, the Keystone XL pipeline project was already under construction and employed more than 1,500 workers," the letter read. "By the end of 2021, the Keystone XL pipeline was projected to provide approximately 11,000 jobs."
"The closure erased thousands of real, high-paying jobs and approximately $800 million in wages," it continued. "Significant prospective spending for rural communities and small businesses, as well as tax revenue for local schools and public safety, disappeared with the stroke of a pen."
Workers load a truck with equipment at a pipe yard for the Keystone XL pipeline in Oyen, Alberta, Canada. | Getty Images
The provision requiring the Secretary of Energy to provide an estimate of jobs lost was part of the Infrastructure and Jobs Act, and provided a 90-day deadline for producing the report.
The deadline was Sunday, February 13, 2022, and Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., told Fox News Digital he had not received any information as of Feb. 15.
"It's not just the jobs that were lost, it's the tax revenues that went back to the states that was lost, it's the energy security that came with it," Daines told Fox News Digital, noting that many in Montana have already felt the effects of the pipeline's cancelation.
OIL NEARS &87 AFTER kEYSTONE pIPELINE CANCELED ONE YEAR AGO
In June 2021, Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, tweeted that "as many as 60K jobs were lost" due to the pipeline's cancelation.
"The Keystone jobs report was due yesterday," he tweeted Monday. "I still have not received it."
"They Keystone XL pipeline was a critical investment for U.S. energy security and job creation," Sen. Risch said in a statement. "Why the administration made the decision to prioritize Russia's workforce and energy sector over the United States is beyond me. The Department of Energy must report back on this significant domestic loss."
"It's almost as if Joe Biden's administration is afraid to confirm how many jobs they killed on Day One in office by canceling the Keystone XL pipeline," Sen. Daines tweeted.
Biden has come under fire from conservatives for canceling the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have pumped fuel from Canada to the United States Midwest while green-lighting the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to eastern Europe.
"This is an anti-made in America energy administration," Daines said. "We saw huge spikes in Russian oil imports last year. We saw President Biden tapping into our strategic oil reserves because the American people are feeling the pain at the gas pump."
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U.S. oil imports from Russia increased in 2021 compared to 2020, with the United States importing over 20 million barrels of oil from Russia in April of 2021, compared to approximately 12 million in April of 2020, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Senators signing the letter included: Steve Daines; Jim Risch; Roger Marshall, R-Kansas; Mike Crapo, R-Idaho; Jerry Moran, R-Kansas; Bill Cassidy, R-La.; John Barrasso, R-Wyo.; Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo.; Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.; John Hoeven, R-N.D.; Tom Cotton, R-Ark.
"We urge you to complete your obligation under the law and release your report to Congress immediately," the letter concluded.