Democrats Can Wait to Create 20,000 Energy Jobs

November 16, 2011

A Pattern Emerges of Dems Prioritizing “Green” Jobs While Sabotaging Immediate Job-Creation

President Obama’s latest failed stimulus slogan—”we can’t wait”—was his most recent attempt to look like he was doing something about America’s economic struggles. But when faced with an opportunity to immediately create 20,000 jobs by approving a major energy project supported by both unions and energy producers, Obama decided he could wait until after the 2012 election and caved to his radical green activist base.
Those jobs won’t wait for Obama, though. Canadian Prime Minster Stephen Harper said his country is looking at other options, including shipping its oil supplies to Asian countries like China.
President Obama’s decision to punt on approving the Keystone XL pipeline illustrates the Democrats’ insistence on sabotaging immediate job-creation efforts to instead push failed “green” jobs schemes. How much longer should we “wait,” Mr. President?

BACKGROUND

President Obama’s latest failed stimulus slogan—”we can’t wait”—was his most recent attempt to look like he was doing something about America’s economic struggles. But when faced with an opportunity to immediately create 20,000 jobs by approving a major energy project supported by both unions and energy producers, Obama decided he could wait until after the 2012 election and caved to his radical green activists base:

OBAMA SAYS “WE CAN’T WAIT” FOR STIMULUS 2.0: “President Obama’s growing impatience with Congress’ refusal to ‘pass this bill now’ has launched a new approach — bypassing Congress by taking actions that don’t require congressional support and insisting that ‘We Can’t Wait’ for any more delays on Capitol Hill.” (“President Begins ‘We Can’t Wait’ Economic Push,” Fox News, 10/24/2011)

BUT “OBAMA PUNTS KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE” UNTIL AFTER 2012 ELECTION: (Dan Berman and Darren Goode, “Obama Punts Keystone XL Pipeline,” Politico, 11/10/2011)

GREEN GROUPS HAD THREATENED TO ABANDON OBAMA IF HE APPROVED THE PROJECT: “Environmental groups have been protesting the pipeline that would run from Alberta oil sands to Texas refineries, and there have been rumblings that greens would abandon Obama next fall if he approved it.” (Dan Berman and Darren Goode, “Obama Punts Keystone XL Pipeline,” Politico, 11/10/2011)

PROJECT HAD BROAD SUPPORT FROM UNIONS: “The pipeline has the support of many Republicans in Congress and also major labor unions like the Teamsters, Laborers’ International Union of North America and segments of the AFL-CIO.” (Dan Berman and Darren Goode, “Obama Punts Keystone XL Pipeline,” Politico, 11/10/2011)

KEYSTONE PROJECT WAS PROJECTED TO CREATE MORE THAN 20,000 “SHOVEL-READY” JOBS: (Editorial, “Keystone Cop-Out,” The Wall Street Journal, 11/11/2011)

LONG-TERM JOBS IMPACT: UP TO 130,000 JOBS: “Many of those 20,000 jobs on the construction of the pipeline would have been filled by skilled union members. Eventually, the completed pipeline was expected to result in as many as 130,000 jobs, many of them on the upper Texas Coast, where the heavy oil would be refined into 700,000 barrels of oil daily.” (Editorial, “Keystone Pipeline is the Wrong Call,” The Houston Chronicle, 11/11/2011)

Those jobs won’t wait for Obama, though. Canadian Prime Minster Stephen Harper said his country is looking at other options, including shipping its oil supplies to Asian countries like China:

WSJ: CARBON IMPACT OF PUNTING PROJECT LIKELY NEGLIGIBLE, SINCE OIL WILL STILL BE EXTRACTED AND SENT TO COUNTRIES LIKE CHINA: “As for the claim that extracting bitumen from the Alberta tar sands is a carbon catastrophe, if the Keystone XL project doesn’t go forward TransCanada will simply load the oil on railroad cars for trans-shipment from British Columbia to other countries, like China. Maybe there’s an impact statement to be done on that carbon footprint.” (Editorial, “Keystone Cop-Out,” The Wall Street Journal, 11/11/2011)

CANADA LOOKS TO ASIA AFTER OBAMA KEYSTONE PUNT: “Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Sunday his country will make a bigger push to sell its energy products to Asia after Washington delayed a decision to approve the Keystone XL Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline project.” (Rachelle Younglai, “Canada Eyes Asia After U.S. Delays Keystone Project,” Reuters, 11/13/2011)

WHERE OBAMA CHOOSES TO LOSE, CHINA STANDS TO GAIN: ” ‘This does underscore the necessity of Canada making sure that we are able to access Asia markets for our energy products,’ Harper told reporters on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

“That will be an important priority of our government going forward and I indicated that yesterday to the president of China.” (Rachelle Younglai, “Canada Eyes Asia After U.S. Delays Keystone Project,” Reuters, 11/13/2011)

President Obama’s decision to punt on approving the Keystone XL pipeline illustrates the Democrats’ insistence on sabotaging immediate job-creation efforts to instead push failed “green” jobs schemes. How much longer should we “wait,” Mr. President?:

WHILE DEMOCRATS TOUT “GREEN JOBS” SCHEMES, THEY ARE SABOTAGINGBOEING JOB-CREATION EFFORTS WITH NLRB LAWSUIT: “President Barack Obama, emphasizing job creation in his 2012 re-election push, faces a drag on his message from his own appointees to the board created as a watchdog for workers’ rights.”(Holly Rosencrantz and Susanna Ray, “Obama Jobs Push Collides with NLRB Complaint,” Bloomberg, 8/24/2011)

PELOSI DEFENDED OBAMA DECISION TO SHUT DOWN BOEING’S FACTORY IN SOUTH CAROLINA ON BEHALF OF UNIONS: CNBC’S MARIA BARTIROMO: “Do you think it’s right that Boeing has to close down that plant in South Carolina because it’s nonunion?”

REP. PELOSI: “Yes. I don’t think they should close it down. I would hope they would make it union.” (“Pelosi: ‘Yes’ The Obama NLRB Should Shut Down Boeing’s Plant in SC,” Real Clear Politics, 10/29/2011)

MONEY WELL SPENT? STIMULUS “SPENT MORE THAN $111 MILLION TO TRAIN 18,000 PEOPLE WHO STILL HAVEN’T LANDED A [GREEN] JOB”: “President Obama’s highly-touted green jobs program — born out of his 2009 stimulus package — has spent more than $111 million to train 18,000 people who still haven’t landed a job.”(“Obama’s $500 Million Green Jobs Program ‘Far Behind’ Projections, Watchdog Says,”FoxNews.com, 11/2/2011)

STIMULUS GREEN PROGRAM AT 21 PERCENT OF TRAINING GOAL, 10 PERCENT OF JOB-PLACEMENT GOAL. PRETTY SURE THAT’S AN “F”: “Though the department set a goal of training nearly 97,000 people and placing 80,000 in jobs, the 26,000 people trained represent 21 percent of the goal while only 10 percent had found work.”(“Obama’s $500 Million Green Jobs Program ‘Far Behind’ Projections, Watchdog Says,”FoxNews.com, 11/2/2011)

DEMOCRATS STILL PUSHING “GREEN JOBS” IN STIMULUS 2.0: “Green jobs, green jobs, green jobs – where were the green jobs in the Obama jobs plan speech delivered to Congress last night? A glance at the plethora of material put out by the White House doesn’t immediately suggest green jobs, which the President glazed over last night, were on his agenda. If you look, and listen, closely though, you do see some green poking out of the $447 billion American Jobs Act.” (Nino Marchetti, “Green Jobs in Obama’s Speech if you Dig for Them,” Reuters, 9/12/2011)

DISPROPORATIONATE SHARE OF OBAMA “GREEN” STIMULUS LOANS WENT TO POLITICAL BACKERS: “But an examination of grants and guaranteed loans offered by just one stimulus program run by the Department of Energy, for alternative-energy projects, is stunning. The so-called 1705 Loan Guarantee Program and the 1603 Grant Program channeled billions of dollars to all sorts of energy companies. The grants were earmarked for alternative-fuel and green-power projects, so it would not be a surprise to learn that those industries were led by liberals. Furthermore, these were highly competitive grant and loan programs—not usually a hallmark of cronyism. Often fewer than 10 percent of applicants were deemed worthy. Nevertheless, a large proportion of the winners were companies with Obama-campaign connections. Indeed, at least 10 members of Obama’s finance committee and more than a dozen of his campaign bundlers were big winners in getting your money.” (Peter Schweizer, “Obama Campaign Backers and Bundlers Rewarded with Green Grants and Loans,” Newsweek-Daily Beast, 11/12/2011)

$16.4 BILLION OF $20.5 BILLION IN LOANS AS OF SEP. 15 WENT TO OBAMA-ALLIED COMPANIES: “At the same time, several politicians who supported Obama managed to strike gold by launching alternative-energy companies and obtaining grants. How much did they get? According to the Department of Energy’s own numbers … a lot. In the 1705 government-backed-loan program, for example, $16.4 billion of the $20.5 billion in loans granted as of Sept. 15 went to companies either run by or primarily owned by Obama financial backers—individuals who were bundlers, members of Obama’s National Finance Committee, or large donors to the Democratic Party. The grant and guaranteed-loan recipients were early backers of Obama before he ran for president, people who continued to give to his campaigns and exclusively to the Democratic Party in the years leading up to 2008.” (Peter Schweizer, “Obama Campaign Backers and Bundlers Rewarded with Green Grants and Loans,”Newsweek-Daily Beast, 11/12/2011)