TransCanada Disputes Obama on Keystone XL: ‘Oh Yes It Will Create 20,000 Jobs’

Earlier this year, the president seemed conflicted about the Keystone XL Pipeline. He had friends in the environmental movement and Hollywood on one side and his friends in Big Labor allied with his enemies in “Big Oil” on the other.

His recent comments downplaying the job projections touted by supporters would suggest that he’s made his decision. Today in Chattanooga, he openly mocked Republicans for supporting the pipeline, which he said would create only fifty permanent jobs.

If they’ve got a better plan to bring back more manufacturing jobs here to Tennessee and around the country, then let them know — let me know. I want to hear them. If they’ve got a better plan to create jobs rebuilding our infrastructure or to help workers earn the high-tech skills that they need, then they should offer up these ideas.

But I’ve got to tell you, just gutting our environmental protection, that’s not a jobs plan. Gutting investments in education, that’s not a jobs plan. They keep on talking about this — an oil pipeline coming down from Canada that’s estimated to create about 50 permanent jobs — that’s not a jobs plan.

Wasting the country’s time by taking something like 40 meaningless votes to repeal Obamacare is not a jobs plan. That’s not a jobs plan.

 

TransCanada Corp. continues to insist that the proposed Keystone XL pipeline will create about 20,000 jobs, despite what Obama says.

A spokesman for Trans-Canada suggested that Obama’s recent comments were politically calculated barbs aimed at Republicans – not what he sincerely thinks.

“I wouldn’t think the president would come out externally and in the media and actually agree with the Republicans regardless of what he might think in private,” James Millar said in an interview Sunday.

Millar, however, couldn’t account for the discrepancy between Obama’s estimates and those provided by TransCanada.

 As the president travels the country pretending the lousy job situation is someone else’s fault, and trash talking Republicans, the best antidote is the Chattanooga Times Free Press’  oped, Tuesday: Take your jobs plan and shove it, Mr. President: Your policies have harmed Chattanooga enough.