34 Days Left as Obama Continues to Block Keystone Jobs

Despite Broad Coalition of Job Creators Urging Keystone Approval, Workers Are Still Waiting on Obama to End Bureaucratic Delay of Job Creation  

President Obama claimed Tuesday that he has been working “to streamline permitting” processes for job creators, even as he continues to block approval of a permit for construction of the Keystone XL pipeline:

OBAMA CLAIMS HE HAS WORKED “TO STREAMLINE PERMITTING”: “First, on permitting:  This is something that I know that Matt and others really emphasized.  As we all agreed, we needed to make a big investment in this country in infrastructure to assure our competitiveness.  We also agreed that we can’t be bogged down by red tape and bureaucracy if we’re actually going to get every bang for the buck.  Building on administration efforts to streamline permitting, I issued an executive order to expedite review of job-creating infrastructure projects, and to track their progress on a new public dashboard.” (“Opening and Closing Remarks by the President to the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness,” The White House, 1/17/2012)

Indeed, despite a vast alliance of job creators and local officials urging President Obama to stop blocking the creation of tens of thousands of Keystone jobs, President Obama continues to delay this immediate job creation opportunity. American workers are left wondering if President Obama will once again prioritize political payback for his Washington friends over real job creation:

COALITION OF FOUR LABOR UNIONS: “All four of our International Unions – the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, the International Union of Operating Engineers, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Laborers’ International Union of North America – have executed a project labor agreement to build the Keystone XL Pipeline … By facilitating this project, you have the power to pave a path to better days and raise the standard of living for working men and women in the construction, manufacturing and transportation industries. … An independent review of the Keystone XL’s potential economic impact finds that during the construction period the pipeline will stimulate $20 billion in new spending for the U.S. economy, spur the creation of 118,000 jobsand generate more than $585 million in state and local taxes for the states along the pipeline route. When Keystone XL is operational, the states along the pipeline route are expected to receive an additional $5.2 billion in property taxes during the operating life of the pipeline, according to the analysis. That kind of renewed, tangible prosperity is the kind of change the American worker can believe in.”(Labor Unions letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, 10/22/2010) 

REP. GENE GREEN (D-TX): “Coming from Texas, which is the nation’s leader in renewable energy production and a pioneer in developing its own state portfolio standard, I support efforts to promote renewable energy production that meet the unique circumstances and resources of each state. However, even with increases in renewable energy, the Energy Information Administration found that oil, natural gas, and coal will continue to make up the large majority of U.S. energy use in 2030 and beyond. The stable, long-term energy supply that will result from this project is critical to U.S. energy security at a time when global supplies are often found in geopolitically unstable regions of the world, and production from once-reliable sources is declining.” (Rep. Gene Green letter to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, 9/15/2010)