Climate Change Dispatch by Valerie Richardson on Jan 26, 2021
Biden’s Blue-Collar Image Threatened As Energy Diktats Kill Thousands Of Jobs
President Biden promised during the campaign to create “millions of good-paying jobs,†but his administration already appears to be moving in the wrong direction.
Tens of thousands of oil and gas jobs were thrown into jeopardy by Mr. Biden’s first-day order canceling the Keystone XL pipeline permit and the Interior Department’s 60-day freeze on agency approvals for oil and gas leases on federal lands, fueling an outcry from unions, industry advocates and Republicans.
“As the nation recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, President Biden is handing out pink slips on Day One,†said Sen. John Barrasso, Wyoming Republican.
Indeed, the layoffs already have begun. Calgary-based TC Energy, the developer of the KXL pipeline, has let go of 1,000 U.S. and Canadian workers as a direct result of Mr. Biden’s decision to cancel the 2017 cross-border permit for the 1,179-mile pipeline extension over environmental and climate concerns.
“A majority of the 1,000 are unionized workers who have been constructing on both sides of the border,†TC Energy spokesperson Terry Cunha told WorldOil.
The specter of mass layoffs comes in contrast with Mr. Biden’s political image as a working-class hero from Scranton, Pennsylvania, although anyone who listened to his 2020 campaign promises, including his vow to ban hydraulic fracturing on federal lands, could foresee that losses in oil and gas jobs were likely.
More:
https://climatechangedispatch.com/bidens-blue-collar-image-threatened-as-energy-diktats-kill-thousands-of-jobs/
