Keystone XL Pipeline: No Boon for Job Creation

Summarizing my position on the Keystone XL  pipeline, energy policy, and job growth: instead of investing in what “Story of Stuff” founder Annie Leonard (pictured) refers to as the “dinosaur economy” of the 20th Century, I would aggressively phase into what really needs to be done: energy efficiency and renewable energy.  The impressive number of permanent and high-paying jobs associated with this transition has been well documented.

And if it’s pipelines you want, I call your attention to this article, whose authors note: targeted investments in our existing water and natural-gas pipeline infrastructure needs along the proposed five-state corridor of the KXL pipeline would create many more long-term jobs than Keystone XL, both in absolute terms and per unit of investment.  This is the finding of  “The Keystone Pipeline Debate: An Alternative Job Creation Strategy,” a study just released by Economics for Equity and Environment and the Labor Network for Sustainability.