Keystone XL Pipeline Could Bring Manufacturing Jobs

The Keystone XL pipeline will transport crude oil from Alberta's tar sands, and the project, which is awaiting administration approval, involves building a pipeline through the heart of the United States to Houston, TX. Project supporters claim the project will create 20,000 manufacturing jobs, but there is debate among industry experts and politicians about the nature of those jobs.

The 20,000-job claim comes from both the TransCanada Corporation and the American Petroleum Institute. The numbers are being parroted by politicians and some unions. In a message supporting the project, Teamsters noted that the pipeline is projected to create high-wage manufacturing jobs as well as 118,000 indirect jobs. In an analysis of the project, the Perryman Group reported that job creation associated with the pipeline would ignite weak segments of the economy through the generation of $585 million in state and local taxes.

The US Department of State estimates the pipeline's impact on manufacturing jobs and other opportunities in a more conservative fashion. According to the administration, the job creation potential is approximately 3,950 person years of work over the course of a three-year construction phase. The administration also notes that the pipeline itself may only create fifty long-term US jobs. Because most of the manufacturing jobs associated with the pipeline are likely to be temporary infrastructure-construction positions, it's impossible to determine how many people will be employed and for how long. An article in Forbes compares the Keystone XL project to the Trans-Alaskan pipelines. Employment estimates for the Trans-Alaskan project began as high as 26,000 but fluctuated constantly throughout the project due to the volatile nature of development.

Supporters of the Keystone XL project argue that construction of the pipeline will create related manufacturing jobs in sectors like steel. The administration and some experts are quick to point out that much of the steel for the project may be purchased from overseas, due in part to domestic resource deficits in such areas. Certainly, the massive amount of product necessary to create the pipeline will result in parts and materials manufacturing jobs, but it's uncertain where those jobs will be.

The Cornell Global Labor Institute reviewed reports from the Perryman Group and called the report poorly documented. According to Cornell GLI, the majority of the jobs created by the pipeline project will be temporary, and up to 90 percent of the jobs will be nonlocal. Cornell GLI also warns of a possible job loss associated with rising Midwest fuel costs, pollution, and oil spills.

Everyone agrees that the Keystone XL pipeline will create some manufacturing jobs, but it's become obvious that exact estimates are not possible. Until the project begins, questions about longevity, location, and type of jobs created will go unanswered.

(Photo courtesy of Vichaya Kiatying-Angsulee / freedigitalphotos.net)