According to a study published last month by his own Energy Department, President Joe Biden's choice to block the Keystone Pipeline on his first day in office cost the American economy 59,000 jobs and $9.6 billion in economic growth.
The projected 875-mile pipeline would have connected to existing pipelines to American refineries and safely transported up to 830,000 barrels of oil per day from the Canadian border to Steel City, Nebraska.
After Biden blocked the permit, Sens. Steve Daines (R-MT) and Jim Risch (R-ID) passed a law requiring the Energy Department to issue a report on how many construction jobs were lost when the permit wasn’t built. The report released by the U.S. Department of Energy states the Keystone XL pipeline would have created between 16,000 and 59,000 jobs and would have had a positive economic impact of between $3.16 and $9.6 billion.
“The Department of Energy finally admitted to the worst kept secret about the Keystone Pipeline: President Biden’s decision to cancel the Keystone XL Pipeline sacrificed thousands of American jobs,” Risch said. "To make matters worse, his decision moved the U.S. further away from energy independence and lower gas prices at a time when inflation and gas prices are drastically impacting Americans’ pocketbooks.”