TransCanada says Keystone XL will create many jobs, despite Obama comments

TransCanada Corp. stands by its forecast that its controversial Keystone XL pipeline project will be a major job creator after U.S. president Barack Obama derided the claim in a weekend interview.

In the session with the New York Times, Mr. Obama said the pipeline project would create no more than 2,000 direct jobs over a two-year construction period, a figure he said was a ?blip? compared to the economy?s need.

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Mr. Obama also suggested Canada could do more to reduced greenhouse gas emissions that could result from the pipeline, and thereby help win its approval.

In a statement issued late Saturday, TransCanada described the proposed 2,500-kilometre pipeline as the largest infrastructure project waiting to be built in the U.S., with 13,000 construction jobs alone.

?We have dealt with criticism of our job number totals for over two years and we stand by them,? company spokesman James Millar said.

?It?s not logical to think a $7.6-billion infrastructure project stretching across the entire breadth of the continental U.S. wouldn?t employ thousands of workers both in the manufacturing sector and in constructing the pipeline.?

In addition to the promised 13,000 construction jobs, TransCanada said it has over 50 suppliers in places like Ohio, Indiana, Arkansas and Louisiana for steel pipe, valves and motors needed to pump the crude through the line.

In the New York Times interview, Mr. Obama gave no indication whether he would approve the Keystone project, which is championed by governments in Ottawa, Alberta and Saskatchewan as an important link from Canadian oilfields to the massive refining hub on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Environmentalists have made it a cause celebre in the battle against climate change arguing the pipeline will facilitate expansion of oil sands production which adds to global warming.

Proponents argue the oil sands will develop regardless of the pipeline?s fate and hence the project will have little impact on emissions, a view endorsed by the U.S. State Department in a draft environmental impact statement released in March.

Mr. Obama has said he will only approve the pipeline if it does not ?significantly exacerbate? the climate problem. But told The Times that Canada could ?potentially be doing more to mitigate carbon release.?

Ottawa is currently working with Alberta and the industry to fashion emission regulations for the oil and gas sector, though the governments are discussing proposals that fall well short of what environmentalists say is needed. Those regulations, once promised for July 1, are now expected to be released later this year.

The president is not expected to make a decision on the pipeline until late fall ? at the earliest ? despite a series of motions by Republicans in Congress to speed up the process.

Live Discussion of TRP on StockTwits

Live Discussion of TRP on StockTwits

Live Discussion of NYT on StockTwits

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Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/transcanada-says-keystone-xl-will-create-many-jobs-despite-obama-interview/article13471894/?cmpid=rss1

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