Thread by @SusanKBradford

The conservative climate fear-mongering begins - HEATED

#keystonepipeline heated.world/p/the-conserva…

2/Those 10,000 construction jobs? They don’t actually exist
Some ppl may likely lose their jobs as a result of Biden’s order on Wed. TC Energy announced suspension of the proj following the permit revocation, & Keystone XL Pres Prior told AP that “over 1,000 jobs,

3/the majority unionized, will be eliminated in the coming weeks.” This is not technically a layoff announcement, as the WSJ claimed, & it is nothing to be celebrated. But it’s also not something that should be exaggerated for political gain.

4/The 10k union jobs Republicans & fossil fuel industry claim Biden killed were, 1st & foremost, hypothetical. Keystone XL was still awaiting permits in sev states bef it cld begin construction, according to Montana Free Press, & other permits r still tied up n legal challenges

5/TC Energy also isn’t directly employing Keystone XL pipeline workers; it issued grants in October to construction companies to do so. There’s little evidence that those companies have employed many people so far.

6/The jobs Keystone XL were eventually going to support were also mostly temporary—one-to-two yr construction jobs, at most. “Once Keystone is completed, only 35 permanent employees would be needed to operate the pipeline along w 15 temporary contractors”.

7/“So, the Keystone XL isn't expected to be a boom for the job market by any stretch.” The pipeline was expected to be a boom, however, for the climate crisis. “Emissions assoc’d w the production, refining, & combustion of the tar sands in Keystone XL wld have resulted in

8/168M metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each yr (equivalent to the emissions from 35.5M internal combustion vehicles)—emissions we simply cannot afford to lock in,” wrote Anthony Swift at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

9/Biden admin rejected Keystone XL’s permit bec it asserts the enormous economic consequences of climate change outweigh the economic benefits of 35 new perm jobs. “Leaving the Keystone XL pipeline permit in place wld not b consistent w my Admin's economic & climate imperatives.”

10/ “At home, we will combat the crisis with an ambitious plan to build back better, designed to both reduce harmful emissions and create good clean-energy jobs.”

As Republicans & conservative media outlets cont to push hard for 10,000 temp union jobs Keystone XL COULD provide..

11/it’s worth considering who stands to benefit from their advocacy. The pipeline sector is relatively small in the context of the economy; only 49,300 ppl worked in the pipeline transportation sector as of Dec 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

12/That’s fewer than the number of ppl who work at Bed Bath and Beyond.

Even the temp work sector isn’t that big. According to market research firm IBISWorld, there were 220,191 ppl employed in the oil & gas pipeline construction sector at the beginning of this yr.

13/It ranks the pipeline construction sector as the 161st largest in the US.

The ppl who do work in pipelines, though, are disproportionately white. The latest numbers from the BLS show that white ppl make up 88% of oil & gas extraction workers; 88% of construction workers;

14/& 87% of oil manufacturing workers, despite only making up 60% of the population.

The racial demographics are particularly important to consider now, as one of the main unions pushing for Keystone XL jobs was just hit w a class action lawsuit alleging longstanding,

15/insidious racial discrimination against Black workers and female workers.

As NPR first reported, last week a group potentially containing more than 500 workers sued Pipeliners Local 798, claiming “minorities & women are relegated to permanent 2nd-class status.”

16/It claims they are routinely denied promotions over less qualified white men & subj to harassment in the workplace, incl the widespread use of racial slurs which go unpunished.
Pipeliners Local 798 has been accused of racism before—& found extremely guilty.

17/In the mid-80s, the Eq Employment Opp Commission found the union had “engaged in intentional discrimination resulting in desperate treatment of blacks & woman.” At the time, a fed judge noted the union had “no black members & … no female members until the eve of the trial.”

18/Today, the entire leadership team of Pipelines Local 798 is still all white men. Asked abt it by NPR, the union’s business mgr Hendrix said, “The cream always comes to the top & I've surrounded myself by some of the best leaders in the pipeline industry. Are they white?

19/They just happen to be, yes.”

The Keystone XL decision was not made for white men
Meanwhile, farmers, ranchers, and frontline indigenous organizers are cheering Biden’s Day 1 action on the pipeline, calling it a victory for environmental justice.

20/“Aft 13 yrs of fam sacrifice, court/permit hearings, driving in snowstorms, endless testimonies/denials from fed agencies AWA institutional racism, predatory economics, land grabs & many more obstacles; we can take a breath,” said Faith Spotted Eagle of Ihanktonwan Dakota.

21/“Now we begin the serious business of changing these violent systems to address climate change, environmental justice, and social inequity in our lifetime.”

22/and never forget this #KeystoneXLPipeline would only give America 65 permanent jobs! Not THOUSANDS, except for temporary! And the pipeline was STILL seeking permits!