Quote of the Day: TransCanada CEO Says Keystone Will Create 50 ‘Actual Operational Jobs’
RADDATZ: There are others who say the jobs will not be so great, going as low as 4,000 jobs. And that the jobs will only be here for a couple of years. The State Department, you mentioned the State Department, says that once the proposed project enters service, operations will require approximately 50 total employees in the U.S.
GIRLING: Yeah, the State Department report details every type of job. And, yes, the actual operating jobs are about 50. But that doesn’t include all the other jobs that come with it.
Girling’s claim that the 42,000 indirect jobs are “ongoing” is incorrect, that figure includes temporary and indirect jobs that will be supported during construction, including jobs that already exist. But Girling bottom-lined the project really well there, the “actual operational jobs” that this pipeline will create is 50, which is still more than enough to qualify it as a Republican “jobs” bill. If the media can loudly misconstrue “You didn’t build that,” then they ought to be able to make this legitimate quote equally famous.
Unfortunately for opponents of Keystone, the other Quote of the Day is from President Obama, who took questions at a press conference to close the G20 Summit in Brisbane on Sunday. When Reuters’ Matt Spetalnick asked Obama if he would veto the pipeline, the President again ran through some of his objections, insisting that the State Department process be allowed too play out, but conspicuously not saying whether or not he would veto the bill if the Senate passed it. That’s when Spetalnick pressed him on that point, I’ve goosed the audio a little so you can hear what he says…READ MORE
Copyright 2014 Liberaland
By: Tommy Christopher
Tommy Christopher is The Daily Banter's White House Correspondent and Political Analyst. He's been a political reporter and liberal commentator since 2007, and has covered the White House since the beginning of the Obama administration, first for PoliticsDaily, and then for Mediaite. Christopher is a frequent guest on a variety of television, radio, and online programs, and was the villain in the documentaries The Audacity of Democracy and Hating Breitbart. He's also That Guy Who Live-Tweeted His Own Heart Attack, and the only person to have ever received public apologies from both Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.
tiredoftea November 16th, 2014 at 22:26
The amazing thing is that this guy gave it up! This is a disaster waiting to happen. This pipeline is over the Ogalala aquifer and it will leak! It is not needed here as it only helps the oil companies to avoid the fight with Canadians about a westward line that is politically doomed. All hail the powerful oil lobby, they buy our politicians cheaply!
Suzanne McFly November 17th, 2014 at 06:11
I am surprised too, his honesty may end his chances for this pipeline.
tracey marie November 17th, 2014 at 07:06
Obama will veto
Suzanne McFly November 17th, 2014 at 07:49
Of course, but eventually someone may come into office that may support it and if the truth is known about the number of jobs, hopefully public support will dwindle.
tracey marie November 17th, 2014 at 07:06
When this pipeline from hell first came out their website stated
huge swathes of land will be destroyed
the water will be fouled by the inevitable leaks
this will not be sold to the Americans
tiredoftea November 16th, 2014 at 23:26
The amazing thing is that this guy gave it up! This is a disaster waiting to happen. This pipeline is over the Ogalala aquifer and it will leak! It is not needed here as it only helps the oil companies to avoid the fight with Canadians about a westward line that is politically doomed. All hail the powerful oil lobby, they buy our politicians cheaply!
Suzanne McFly November 17th, 2014 at 07:11
I am surprised too, his honesty may end his chances for this pipeline.
tracey marie November 17th, 2014 at 08:06
Obama will veto
Suzanne McFly November 17th, 2014 at 08:49
Of course, but eventually someone may come into office that may support it and if the truth is known about the number of jobs, hopefully public support will dwindle.
tracey marie November 17th, 2014 at 08:06
When this pipeline from hell first came out their website stated
huge swathes of land will be destroyed
the water will be fouled by the inevitable leaks
this will not be sold to the Americans
Hirightnow November 16th, 2014 at 23:50
YAYS! Now we can afford that new missile system with all the tax income!!!
Larry Schmitt November 17th, 2014 at 09:14
That sounds a lot like the peace dividend we all enjoyed after we liberated Iraq, and they used the oil to pay for the war. Oh, wait…
Hirightnow November 17th, 2014 at 00:50
YAYS! Now we can afford that new missile system with all the tax income!!!
Larry Schmitt November 17th, 2014 at 10:14
That sounds a lot like the peace dividend we all enjoyed after we liberated Iraq, and they used the oil to pay for the war. Oh, wait…
Red Eye Robot November 17th, 2014 at 00:10
I love how you guys crowed about Jobs created by the stimulus that were temp jobs mowing grass at DC. monuments as “Jobs Created” This project will employ thousands of people for the next 4 or 5 years.
Carla Akins November 17th, 2014 at 04:56
The potential catastrophe the pipeline presents are not worth temporary jobs. We have always known there would only be a handful of permanent jobs and having safe water is far more vital. There is no hypocrisy here, if this is the only way they can think of to create more jobs – we are in far more trouble than originally thought.
Obewon November 17th, 2014 at 07:24
CBO proves the Stimulus created 70% of the Obama Admins 11 M+ Private jobs created in ‘USA’s Record 56 consecutive months of private jobs growth!’-BLS.
“Since the Affordable Care Act passed, 90 percent of job growth has been in full-time positions.” The statistics show that 87% of the increase in jobs between March 2010 and July 2013 consisted of full-time jobs.”-PolitiFact True! Debunks Red Eye Radio faux news clowns. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2013/aug/07/alan-krueger/alan-krueger-top-economist-obama-says-most-new-job/
Red Eye Robot November 17th, 2014 at 01:10
I love how you guys crowed about Jobs created by the stimulus that were temp jobs mowing grass at DC. monuments as “Jobs Created” This project will employ thousands of people for the next 4 or 5 years.
Carla Akins November 17th, 2014 at 05:56
The potential catastrophe the pipeline presents are not worth temporary jobs. We have always known there would only be a handful of permanent jobs and having safe water is far more vital. There is no hypocrisy here, if this is the only way they can think of to create more jobs – we are in far more trouble than originally thought.
Obewon November 17th, 2014 at 08:24
CBO proves the Stimulus created 70% of the Obama Admins 11 M+ Private jobs created in ‘USA’s Record 56+ consecutive months of private jobs growth!’-BLS.
“Since the Affordable Care Act passed, 90 percent of job growth has been in full-time positions.” The statistics show that 87% of the increase in jobs between March 2010 and July 2013 consisted of full-time jobs.”-PolitiFact True! Debunks Red Eye Radio faux news clowns. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2013/aug/07/alan-krueger/alan-krueger-top-economist-obama-says-most-new-job/ The Obama Admins 200,000+ private jobs created per month in 2014 are the most private jobs created since POTUS Clinton’s 1998! Vs GOP’s jobs plan? “50 Jobs!”-Lol.
Robert M. Snyder November 17th, 2014 at 03:29
How many ‘actual operational jobs’ are required to operate a large cluster of wind turbines or a large array of photovoltaic panels? The fact is that NONE of these technologies requires very much labor to operate.
I live in the northeast US and heat my house with oil. The fuel truck driver visits my house several times per year to refill my oil tank, and a service technician visits once per year to service my oil burner. If everyone in my community converted to solar, those two jobs would disappear, because solar panels are essentially maintenance free.
I happen to like wind and solar, but I can’t see any way that those technologies would create more “actual operational jobs” than oil or gas. Manufacturing jobs? Yes. Installation jobs? Yes. ‘Operational’ jobs? Not so much.
fahvel November 17th, 2014 at 05:08
how about an entire new industry that is involved with the fabrication of all the bits and pieces in the new industry?
tracey marie November 17th, 2014 at 07:04
they will not foul the water, air or soil the way oil and bitimen will and does
Obewon November 17th, 2014 at 07:18
By 2013 20,000 Renewable Energy Jobs were created by DOE’s $23 B loan guarantees, KXL’s 50 permanent jobs may include cleanup crews for dozens of toxic leaks annually plaguing Keystone, even though it just opened in 2010.
WaPo 2012: 3) The stimulus appears to have boosted U.S. wind and solar generation. Here’s Mike Grunwald with a top-line summary: “Before President Obama took office, the U.S. had 25 gigawatts of wind power, and the government’s ‘base case’ energy forecast expected 40 GW by 2030. Well, it’s not quite 2030 yet, but we’ve already got 50 GW of wind. We’ve also got about 5 GW of solar, which isn’t much but is over six times as much as we had before Obama.”
Roctuna November 17th, 2014 at 08:03
Obe can/will provide stats on jobs. I’ll just offer my take. It seems to me that some measure of “new” jobs must be created to staff a new manufacturing industry, i.e. solar panels and their components. Some already have, since that industry is producing with hopes of expanding. I think we can reasonably predict incremental growth. Solar and wind aren’t maintenance-free, they need regular attention just like your oil-burning furnace. I think the greatest growth potential is in the retrofit industry converting hydrocarbon based systems to electrical. A shift from hydrocarbon-fueled electrical generation and centralized distribution to a decentralized system would require a substantial change in our infrastructure. It seems to me that’s where the jobs are.
mea_mark November 17th, 2014 at 11:39
America needs a new upgraded electrical infrastructure badly. Lets just focus on that and all the jobs it will create.
eyelashviper November 17th, 2014 at 09:00
The long term jobs created by the Keystone pipeline would be those of clean up crews when the pipe leaks, breaks, or otherwise goes “ooops”, dumping the nasty stuff onto the Ogallala Aquifer, farmers fields, highways, etc…
Read the interview, and notice also that the goop, once “refined” in LA or TX, is headed to the “global” market.
edmeyer_able November 17th, 2014 at 10:53
There are presently more people involved in the solar power industry than in coal mining, renewable energy is no longer an option it is a necessity.
Robert M. Snyder November 17th, 2014 at 11:25
In 1900 the US coal industry employed about 640,000 people. Today that number is about 80,000, and they are producing twice as much coal. This sixteen-fold increase in efficiency has eliminated over half a million jobs over the past century.
I like renewable energy. I was “into” electric cars before electric cars were cool. But the question raised by the original post is whether the Keystone XL pipeline would create permanent jobs, and my contention is that NONE of these technologies will create permanent jobs.
I can think of many valid reasons to favor renewable energy, but to describe it as a source of permanent jobs is naïve at best. Newer technology almost always requires less maintenance and upkeep than older technology. Just like the coal industry, the renewable industry will do everything in its power to do more work with fewer people.
mea_mark November 17th, 2014 at 11:45
Building a new advanced electrical grid for America can supply many jobs for many years. The driver bringing you heating oil may get a job delivering parts to those building a new grid. Coal workers may get jobs putting up transmission lines. There are lots of options. We just need to quit sitting around on our collective butts and get to work. If only the GOPers would get out of the way and stop blocking progress.
Robert M. Snyder November 17th, 2014 at 12:39
Yeah, but it’s not that simple, is it? You mentioned transmission lines. Roctuna mentioned a shift from centralized distribution to a decentralized system. Which way should we go? Personally, I would love to see a decentralized system, with solar on every rooftop.
The Germans have experimented with something called a “seasonal thermal store”. It’s a way of collecting heat energy during summer when the sun is shining and using it to heat up a huge, well-insulated tank of water, which is then used to heat buildings in winter.
Since my own house has hot water baseboard heat, I actually considered building a seasonal thermal store and putting solar hot water panels on my roof.
All of the oil consumed in domestic heating is used to heat water and living spaces. A seasonal thermal store could provide all of that. And the advantage is that each home using a seasonal thermal store would be completely independent of any centralized energy source. For anyone with a half acre of ground, it might be a very attractive solution, and it wouldn’t require transmission lines.
Centralized generation and distribution over long distances using transmission lines is so 20th century!
Here’s my point: It’s not as simple as “getting off our collective butts”. There are real questions about which technologies make the most sense. Do you want the government to pick winners and losers? Because with billions of dollars at stake, we all know who the winners will be. Left to themselves, consumers might opt for something like seasonal thermal stores. But if the decision is left to politicians, who generally know very little about science, we will end up funding the green energy equivalent of Halliburton.
With decentralized solutions, the consumer gets to decide what works best. With centralized solutions, politicians and lobbyists hold all the power (pun intended).
mea_mark November 17th, 2014 at 12:55
Actually I think both should be done, advanced grid and decentralization. If one is failing hopefully the other can back-it-up. Natural disasters do occur and then there is terrorism, our energy grid is a weak link in America.
I really like the idea of flow batteries also. New technology coming along to store solar power. http://www.technologyreview.com/news/523251/new-battery-material-could-help-wind-and-solar-power-go-big/ I am sure other new technologies will be emerging too in the years ahead.
Centralized solutions to a utility like electricity is something we will just have to live with. That is why everybody should vote and be informed.
I would do something like the thermal store my self here but unfortunately living on near solid rock makes it cost prohibitive. Those tanks are best kept underground.
Robert M. Snyder November 17th, 2014 at 13:14
Where I live, virtually every house has a basement. When a new house is constructed, it might be possible to build a seasonal thermal store as a sub-basement. That would be a zero-footprint solution.
In the 1800’s people cut blocks of ice from lakes and stored them in block houses, insulated with sawdust, throughout the summer months. If they could manage that in the 1800’s, it seems plausible that we could find practical ways to build seasonal thermal stores today. The big advantage is that it would avoid conversion of energy from one form to another. You collect heat in summer, store it, and then use it in winter. No need to convert the energy to another form and then back again.
Most people in my region also have asphalt driveways. These things get hot in the summer. When a new home is being built, it might be possible to place some kind of solid insulating material, and then some kind of tubing to carry water, under the asphalt. If water were circulated when the asphalt is hot, the entire driveway could act as a large solar collector. There would obviously be mechanical issues to overcome, but if a company were to offer an affordable, reliable system…this could be a big deal.
mea_mark November 17th, 2014 at 13:25
Like I said, I would do something like that if I could. It is another option for those living out in the country with the land space. Really all options should be looked at, some work well in one area but not another. That is why I still like grid advancement, tie all the solutions together so when one fails there is back-up.
Robert M. Snyder November 17th, 2014 at 13:25
“Actually I think both should be done, advanced grid and decentralization. If one is failing hopefully the other can back-it-up. Natural disasters do occur and then there is terrorism, our energy grid is a weak link in America.”
Completely agree. I would add that decentralized probably wouldn’t make sense for small structures such as mobile homes where a major goal is to minimize the initial cost.
Kim Serrahn November 17th, 2014 at 11:12
But the oil that will be coming from Keystone is meant for overseas buyers, not the US.
Robert M. Snyder November 17th, 2014 at 04:29
How many ‘actual operational jobs’ are required to operate a large cluster of wind turbines or a large array of photovoltaic panels? The fact is that NONE of these technologies requires very much labor to operate.
I live in the northeast US and heat my house with oil. The fuel truck driver visits my house several times per year to refill my oil tank, and a service technician visits once per year to service my oil burner. If everyone in my community converted to solar, those two jobs would disappear, because solar panels are essentially maintenance free.
I happen to like wind and solar, but I can’t see any way that those technologies would create more “actual operational jobs” than oil or gas. Manufacturing jobs? Yes. Installation jobs? Yes. ‘Operational’ jobs? Not so much.
fahvel November 17th, 2014 at 06:08
how about an entire new industry that is involved with the fabrication of all the bits and pieces in the new industry?
tracey marie November 17th, 2014 at 08:04
they will not foul the water, air or soil the way oil and bitimen will and does
Obewon November 17th, 2014 at 08:18
By 2013 20,000 Renewable Energy Jobs were created by DOE’s $23 B loan guarantees, KXL’s 50 permanent jobs may include cleanup crews for dozens of toxic leaks annually plaguing Keystone already, even though it just opened in 2010.
WaPo 2012: 3) The stimulus appears to have boosted U.S. wind and solar generation. Here’s Mike Grunwald with a top-line summary: “Before President Obama took office, the U.S. had 25 gigawatts of wind power, and the government’s ‘base case’ energy forecast expected 40 GW by 2030. Well, it’s not quite 2030 yet, but we’ve already got 50 GW of wind. We’ve also got about 5 GW of solar, which isn’t much but is over six times as much as we had before Obama.”
Wind Turbine spills never killed anyone unlike toxic oil spills. Solar panel spills are called a nice day. Thin Film Solar produces power on rainy and cloudy days.
Roctuna November 17th, 2014 at 09:03
Obe can/will provide stats on jobs. I’ll just offer my take. It seems to me that some measure of “new” jobs must be created to staff a new manufacturing industry, i.e. solar panels and their components. Some already have, since that industry is producing with hopes of expanding. I think we can reasonably predict incremental growth. Solar and wind aren’t maintenance-free, they need regular attention just like your oil-burning furnace. I think the greatest growth potential is in the retrofit industry converting hydrocarbon based systems to electrical. A shift from hydrocarbon-fueled electrical generation and centralized distribution to a decentralized system would require a substantial change in our infrastructure. It seems to me that’s where the jobs are.
mea_mark November 17th, 2014 at 12:39
America needs a new upgraded electrical infrastructure badly. Lets just focus on that and all the jobs it will create.
eyelashviper November 17th, 2014 at 10:00
The long term jobs created by the Keystone pipeline would be those of clean up crews when the pipe leaks, breaks, or otherwise goes “ooops”, dumping the nasty stuff onto the Ogallala Aquifer, farmers fields, highways, etc…
Read the interview, and notice also that the goop, once “refined” in LA or TX, is headed to the “global” market.
edmeyer_able November 17th, 2014 at 11:53
There are presently more people involved in the solar power industry than in coal mining, renewable energy is no longer an option it is a necessity.
Robert M. Snyder November 17th, 2014 at 12:25
In 1900 the US coal industry employed about 640,000 people. Today that number is about 80,000, and they are producing twice as much coal. This sixteen-fold increase in efficiency has eliminated over half a million jobs over the past century.
I like renewable energy. I was “into” electric cars before electric cars were cool. But the question raised by the original post is whether the Keystone XL pipeline would create permanent jobs, and my contention is that NONE of these technologies will create permanent jobs.
I can think of many valid reasons to favor renewable energy, but to describe it as a source of permanent jobs is naïve at best. Newer technology almost always requires less maintenance and upkeep than older technology. Just like the coal industry, the renewable industry will do everything in its power to do more work with fewer people.
mea_mark November 17th, 2014 at 12:45
Building a new advanced electrical grid for America can supply many jobs for many years. The driver bringing you heating oil may get a job delivering parts to those building a new grid. Coal workers may get jobs putting up transmission lines. There are lots of options. We just need to quit sitting around on our collective butts and get to work. If only the GOPers would get out of the way and stop blocking progress.
Robert M. Snyder November 17th, 2014 at 13:39
Yeah, but it’s not that simple, is it? You mentioned transmission lines. Roctuna mentioned a shift from centralized distribution to a decentralized system. Which way should we go? Personally, I would love to see a decentralized system, with solar on every rooftop.
The Germans have experimented with something called a “seasonal thermal store”. It’s a way of collecting heat energy during summer when the sun is shining and using it to heat up a huge, well-insulated tank of water, which is then used to heat buildings in winter.
Since my own house has hot water baseboard heat, I actually considered building a seasonal thermal store and putting solar hot water panels on my roof.
All of the oil consumed in domestic heating is used to heat water and living spaces. A seasonal thermal store could provide all of that. And the advantage is that each home using a seasonal thermal store would be completely independent of any centralized energy source. For anyone with a half acre of ground, it might be a very attractive solution, and it wouldn’t require transmission lines.
Centralized generation and distribution over long distances using transmission lines is so 20th century!
Here’s my point: It’s not as simple as “getting off our collective butts”. There are real questions about which technologies make the most sense. Do you want the government to pick winners and losers? Because with billions of dollars at stake, we all know who the winners will be. Left to themselves, consumers might opt for something like seasonal thermal stores. But if the decision is left to politicians, who generally know very little about science, we will end up funding the green energy equivalent of Halliburton.
With decentralized solutions, the consumer gets to decide what works best. With centralized solutions, politicians and lobbyists hold all the power (pun intended).
mea_mark November 17th, 2014 at 13:55
Actually I think both should be done, advanced grid and decentralization. If one is failing hopefully the other can back-it-up. Natural disasters do occur and then there is terrorism, our energy grid is a weak link in America.
I really like the idea of flow batteries also. New technology coming along to store solar power. http://www.technologyreview.com/news/523251/new-battery-material-could-help-wind-and-solar-power-go-big/ I am sure other new technologies will be emerging too in the years ahead.
Centralized solutions to a utility like electricity is something we will just have to live with. That is why everybody should vote and be informed.
I would do something like the thermal store my self here but unfortunately living on near solid rock makes it cost prohibitive. Those tanks are best kept underground.
Robert M. Snyder November 17th, 2014 at 14:14
Where I live, virtually every house has a basement. When a new house is constructed, it might be possible to build a seasonal thermal store as a sub-basement. That would be a zero-footprint solution.
In the 1800’s people cut blocks of ice from lakes and stored them in block houses, insulated with sawdust, throughout the summer months. If they could manage that in the 1800’s, it seems plausible that we could find practical ways to build seasonal thermal stores today. The big advantage is that it would avoid conversion of energy from one form to another. You collect heat in summer, store it, and then use it in winter. No need to convert the energy to another form and then back again.
Most people in my region also have asphalt driveways. These things get hot in the summer. When a new home is being built, it might be possible to place some kind of solid insulating material, and then some kind of tubing to carry water, under the asphalt. If water were circulated when the asphalt is hot, the entire driveway could act as a large solar collector. There would obviously be mechanical issues to overcome, but if a company were to offer an affordable, reliable system…this could be a big deal.
mea_mark November 17th, 2014 at 14:25
Like I said, I would do something like that if I could. It is another option for those living out in the country with the land space. Really all options should be looked at, some work well in one area but not another. That is why I still like grid advancement, tie all the solutions together so when one fails there is back-up.
Robert M. Snyder November 17th, 2014 at 14:25
“Actually I think both should be done, advanced grid and decentralization. If one is failing hopefully the other can back-it-up. Natural disasters do occur and then there is terrorism, our energy grid is a weak link in America.”
Completely agree. I would add that decentralized probably wouldn’t make sense for small structures such as mobile homes where a major goal is to minimize the initial cost.
Kim Serrahn November 17th, 2014 at 12:12
But the oil that will be coming from Keystone is meant for overseas buyers, not the US.
William November 17th, 2014 at 07:37
GOP. Clean water for middle America, or campaign money. Looks like they made their choice.
Larry Schmitt November 17th, 2014 at 09:16
It was never a choice. There was only one way the money was going.
William November 17th, 2014 at 08:37
GOP. Clean water for middle America, or campaign money. Looks like they made their choice.
Larry Schmitt November 17th, 2014 at 10:16
It was never a choice. There was only one way the money was going.
William November 17th, 2014 at 09:23
Lets cut the crap and get to the facts. The Koch bro’s stand to make a fortune
William November 17th, 2014 at 10:23
Lets cut the crap and get to the facts. The Koch bro’s stand to make a fortune
fancypants November 17th, 2014 at 10:14
the 50 jobs will include people who make sure the oil gets to china boat tankers ontime
fancypants November 17th, 2014 at 11:14
the 50 jobs will include people who make sure the oil gets to china boat tankers ontime
edmeyer_able November 17th, 2014 at 10:50
50 permanent positions qualifies as a republican jobs bill, hell that’s still better than the 2000 temporary jobs they create when they hold a convention……./s.
edmeyer_able November 17th, 2014 at 11:50
50 permanent positions qualifies as a republican jobs bill, hell that’s still better than the 2000 temporary jobs they create when they hold a convention……./s.
uzza November 17th, 2014 at 10:58
The argument that we should build something because it creates jobs is stupid.
Building a huge statute of Jesus at every intersection would create thousands of jobs, why don’t we do that?
Next they’ll argue we should create jobs by building a huge mercenary company to hunt down and klll brown people.
uzza November 17th, 2014 at 11:58
The argument that we should build something because it creates jobs is stupid.
Building a huge statute of Jesus at every intersection would create thousands of jobs, why don’t we do that?
Next they’ll argue we should create jobs by building a huge mercenary company to hunt down and klll brown people.
Kim Serrahn November 17th, 2014 at 11:11
And I bet most of those jobs will be in Canada.
searambler November 17th, 2014 at 11:22
Or be performed by Canadians with work visas…
Kim Serrahn November 17th, 2014 at 12:11
And I bet most of those jobs will be in Canada.
searambler November 17th, 2014 at 12:22
Or be performed by Canadians with work visas…