On his first day in office, Joe Biden revoked the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. The biggest concern about this decision is the tremendous loss of jobs. This has hit the mainstream media and some sources have blown it out of proportion. So what are the real effects of this decision?

The Keystone XL Pipeline was first proposed in 2008. If fully built it would be 1200 miles long, and deliver up to 800,000 barrels of oil daily. It would have been built through Alberta, Canada, to the American Gulf Coast. 300 miles of the pipeline are fully built and functional, and have been used since 2010. The extension of the pipeline is what has everyone’s attention.

The Keystone pipeline would be delivering tar sands oil which is more acidic and corrosive than conventional oil. Tar sands oil heavily increases the chances of a leak, and is much harder to clean. This type of oil also produces 17 percent more carbon dioxide than any other crude. This would cause major climate change problems with estimates of releasing an extra 1.37 billion tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The main concern is deciding which is more important: American jobs or the environment.

The exact amount of lost jobs is unknown. Some sources estimate 1000 lost jobs, while others claim 11,000. The high number of 11,000 is how many job openings were available for the pipeline, but only around 1000 of those jobs were filled. Some are considering the unfilled positions a job loss because of the opportunity an unemployed worker could have had.

https://www.npr.org/sections/inauguration-day-live-updates/2021/01/20/958823085/biden-order-blocks-keystone-xl-pipeline
https://www.nrdc.org/stories/what-keystone-pipeline
https://www.nrdc.org/onearth/epa-keystone-fails-climate
https://www.khou.com/article/news/verify/keystone-pipeline-jobs-loss-fact-check/285-91332c5a-265e-46b4-878e-9fd23f8d6258