Energy Tomorrow Blog
Keystone XL's New Labor Agreement and the Politics of Pipelines
keystone xl pipeline safe operations jobs labor unions economic growth
Mark Green
Posted August 7, 2020
News item from Bloomberg: TC Energy Corp. has reached agreements with four labor unions to build the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline – a move that could amplify political pressure on Joe Biden, who has threatened to rip up permits for the project even as he courts blue-collar workers.
Details in the announcement from TC Energy, Keystone XL’s builder: The project labor agreement (PLA) is with the Laborers International Union of North America (LiUNA), the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the International Union of Operating Engineers, and the United Association of Union Plumbers and Pipefitters (UA); Keystone XL will have 10,000 high-paying construction jobs, primarily filled by union workers; 2,000 unionized workers will start building some of the project’s 28 planned U.S. pump stations this fall, according to Bloomberg.
Overall, Keystone XL is projected to support 42,000 U.S. jobs and generate $2 billion in earnings for U.S. workers during pipeline construction, according to the U.S. State Department, which also found that the project won’t significantly impact climate or the environment.
Delivering the Second Wave of U.S. LNG Mega-Projects
lng exports workforce investments labor unions
Dean Foreman
Posted August 28, 2019
U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) – growing to a record 4.8 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) in the third quarter of 2019 – have been a catalyst for new natural gas resource development, U.S. pipeline and natural gas processing investments and the U.S. economy. ...
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects U.S. LNG exports to more than double again by 2025, which holds the potential for even greater domestic economic benefits, plus a central, emerging role for U.S. energy leadership in global markets.
Realizing these benefits is critically dependent on the United States’ ability to build and deliver an unprecedented number of multi-billion-dollar U.S. mega-projects over the next several years. When ”demographics are destiny” and the average age of a welder in the U.S. already is over 57 years, we should remain optimistic about the potential to build these projects but also pragmatic about the policies and business environment needed to achieve the goals.Government Uncertainty Hinders World-Class Infrastructure
pipelines infrastructure labor unions south dakota economic benefits
Mark Green
Posted October 5, 2016
Locking Arms on Energy Infrastructure
infrastructure natural gas pipelines economic growth jobs climate labor unions
Mark Green
Posted May 16, 2016
We kick off “Infrastructure Week 2016,” a seven-day focus on America’s infrastructure needs, sponsored by more than 100 trade associations and business and labor groups, with a conversation API President and CEO Jack Gerard and Sean McGarvey, president of North America’s Building Trades Unions, had last week with reporters covering a range of infrastructure and energy policy issues. Highlights below.
Gerard and McGarvey framed the infrastructure discussion by pointing out the way new pipelines, pipeline expansions and other projects are needed to harness America’s energy revolution and spread the benefits of the new energy abundance – to consumers, workers, businesses and to the betterment of the environment – to all parts of the country.
Jobs and the Keystone XL
keystone xl pipeline labor unions american jobs economic benefits canadian oil sands congress president obama state department
Mark Green
Posted January 13, 2015
As the Keystone XL pipeline debate in Congress continues, working Americans are pushing back against those – including President Obama – who dismiss as “temporary” the jobs the project would support.
North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) published an open letter to members of Congress that asks a simple question: “When did our careers and livelihoods become fodder for disdain and ridicule?”
Great question, because disparaging the more than 42,000 jobs Keystone XL would support during its construction – according to the U.S. State Department – has become a standard line of attack from Keystone XL opponents, from the president on down.
The union ad makes clear that those who work in the construction trades have had it with politicians who are double-tongued about the need to put Americans back to work and the need for infrastructure investment – while brushing off the way Keystone XL could help with both.
Time for Political Leadership on Keystone XL
keystone xl pipeline canada congress oil sands labor unions
Mark Green
Posted June 16, 2014
This week the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to vote on bipartisan legislation that would advance the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline – a $5.3 billion, privately financed infrastructure project that the U.S. State Department says would generate more than 42,000 jobs during its construction phase while contributing more than $3 billion to our economy.
Congress is acting because the administration has not – not in more than five years of review by the administration, during which the project has cleared five environmental reviews by the State Department. Congressional leadership on Keystone XL is about the administration’s lack of clear leadership on the Keystone XL.
As the vote approaches, API President and CEO Jack Gerard and Sean McGarvey, president of the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, talked about the pipeline during a conference call. Both pointed to developments in Iraq and the ongoing standoff between Ukraine and Russia as reminders of how important it is for the United States to secure its energy future – and the significance of the Keystone XL in that equation.
Americans Choose Keystone XL, Jobs and Security
keystone xl pipeline economic security labor unions oil sands canada
Mark Green
Posted April 24, 2014
Americans support building the Keystone XL pipeline. A new Harris Poll shows that by nearly a 4-to-1 margin Americans agree the pipeline is in the national interest. By continuing to put off a decision on Keystone XL, the Obama administration is casting its lot with the 1. On this issue, a lonely number indeed. API’s Cindy Schild, during a conference call with reporters:
“Friday’s announcement by the administration seems to dismiss not only congressional support but American support as well. President Obama and his advisers have apparently determined to put their political interests over the national interest and side with a small group of activists led by a billionaire instead of the labor community and the vast majority of ordinary Americans, regardless of harm to the middle class.”
For all the talk from this administration about building up the middle class, its lack of action on Keystone XL is hurting middle-class Americans.
Keystone XL: For Jobs, Families and Security
keystone xl pipeline labor unions economic growth infrastructure
Mark Green
Posted March 11, 2014
For American workers the more-than-five-year wait for the Keystone XL pipeline is personal. Make that very personal.
During a press conference with other union leaders and API President and CEO Jack Gerard, Laborers International Union of North America President Terry O’Sullivan said the construction sector is saddled with 12.8 percent unemployment, with nearly 1 million out of work. So every one of the 42,000 jobs the U.S. State Department estimates the Keystone XL would create during its construction phase is highly prized.
Groups Urge Congress: Avoid Energy Taxes
congress energy policy energy taxes labor unions taxes
Jane Van Ryan
Posted October 26, 2009