Infrastructure Bill Will ‘Study’ Job Losses from Canceling Keystone XL, Without Restoring It

The new $1.2 trillion “bipartisan” infrastructure bill contains a provision to create a “study and report” on the effects of President Joe Biden’s decision to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline on his first day in office — but does not restore it.

The 2,700-page draft text of the bill was obtained exclusively by Breitbart News and published on Sunday evening.

It includes the following provision on the Keystone XL pipeline (emphasis added):

SEC. 40434. STUDY AND REPORT BY THE SECRETARY OF ENERGY ON JOB LOSS AND IMPACTS ON CONSUMER ENERGY COSTS DUE TO THE REVOCATION OF THE PERMIT FOR THE KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE.

(a) DEFINITION OF EXECUTIVE ORDER.—In this section, the term ‘‘Executive Order’’ means Executive Order 13990 (86 Fed. Reg. 7037; relating to protecting public health and the environment and restoring science to tackle the climate crisis).

(b) STUDY AND REPORT.—The Secretary shall— (1) conduct a study to estimate— (A) the total number of jobs that were lost as a direct or indirect result of section 6 of the Executive Order over the 10-year period beginning on the date on which the Executive Order was issued; and (B) the impact on consumer energy costs that are projected to result as a direct or indirect result of section 6 of the Executive Order 1663 EDW21994 589 S.L.C. over the 10-year period beginning on the date on which the Executive Order was issued; and (2) not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, submit to Congress a report describing the findings of the study conducted under paragraph (1).

President Biden canceled the pipeline on his first day in office, eliminating roughly 1,000 existing jobs, as well as tens of thousands more the pipeline was to have created, directly and indirectly — many of them the “good, paying, union jobs” that Biden often promises.

The pipeline had previously been approved in reports by the State Department under the Obama-Biden administration.

Biden cited the importance of fighting climate change as his reason for canceling the pipeline, but the administration has admitted that the pipeline is, or was, the most efficient and environmentally-friendly way to transport Canada’s oil to the U.S., rather than by rail or road.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration has since given the green light to Russia’s controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany, giving an adversary massive leverage over Europe’s energy supply.

On Sunday, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) told Breitbart News Sunday that Republicans could demand the renewal of Keystone XL and the completion of the border wall — both infrastructure projects — as conditions of the deal.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.