Quote of the Day: TransCanada CEO Says Keystone Will Create 50 ‘Actual Operational Jobs’

Posted by | November 16, 2014 22:00 | Filed under: Contributors Opinion Politics Tommy Christopher Top Stories

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Days ahead of an expected Senate vote on the Keystone XL Pipeline, the proposed TransCanada tar sands pipeline was the subject of dueling Quotes of the Day this Sunday. The first is from TransCanada CEO Russ Girling, who was interviewed by This Week‘s Martha Raddatz on the future of his company’s project. Raddatz confronted Girling with some of President Obama’s objections to the project, including that the oil from the pipeline would be sold on the global market, and not have an appreciable effect on American oil supply. Girling attempted some sleight-of-hand, telling Raddatz that all of the oil would be ” delivered to”  and “used” in the Gulf region (by refineries, before being sold on the global market), before Raddatz also challenged him on the jobs claims that have been made about Keystone:

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

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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.

74 responses to Quote of the Day: TransCanada CEO Says Keystone Will Create 50 ‘Actual Operational Jobs’

  1. searambler November 17th, 2014 at 11:37

    So their argument is, put our environment at risk in order to move Canadian oil to the gulf refineries, where it will be refined and shipped to China, all for the benefit of Koch Industries. The ‘jobs created’ would be relatively negligible, considering the country is currently adding 200,000 jobs a month anyway.

    Yep. A Republican plan through and through…

    • alpacadaddy November 17th, 2014 at 17:18

      Yeah… pretty much, plus the Rebags get to stick it to Native Americans & property owners along the route using ‘Eminent Domain’ (for a foreign company no less!) but no worry, America’s largest aqua fir works best when well-oiled!

  2. searambler November 17th, 2014 at 12:37

    So their argument is, put our environment at risk in order to move Canadian oil to the gulf refineries, where it will be refined and shipped to China, all for the benefit of Koch Industries. The ‘jobs created’ would be relatively negligible, considering the country is currently adding 200,000 jobs a month anyway.

    Yep. A Republican plan through and through…

    • alpacadaddy November 17th, 2014 at 18:18

      Yeah… pretty much, plus the Rebags get to stick it to Native Americans & property owners along the route using ‘Eminent Domain’ (for a foreign company no less!) but no worry, America’s largest aqua fir works best when well-oiled!

  3. Bunya November 17th, 2014 at 13:15

    You bet will will create actual jobs. Clean up crews will be needed for all the impending disasters it will cause.

  4. Bunya November 17th, 2014 at 14:15

    You bet will will create actual jobs. Clean up crews will be needed for all the impending disasters it will cause.

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