A TransCanada pipeline

The Keystone Pipeline, which will transport oil from the oilsands fields of Alberta to the Texas coast, would be built and owned by TransCanada, a company that has thousands of miles of pipeline across Canada and the United States. The original plan for the Keystone pipeline had a route that crossed over the vast Kansas aquifer, and environmentalists and people who like to drink water and apply water to their lawns and like to take baths and fill swimming pools, objected to the route. The Republicans in the House of Representatives decided that the negotiations over the pipeline were a hot political issue, so they demanded that the Obama administration make a decision to create 20,000 jobs, which was kind of funny because TransCanada has less than 5,000 employees running all those thousands of miles of pipeline. So, the Obama administration made a decision. They refused to approve the pipeline.

TransCanada notified the administration that they would submit a new route, and the new negotiations have been going along amicably. Half the pipeline has been approved already, and TransCanada has submitted a preliminary route that avoids the Kansas aquifer. It is still being studied.

The Republicans, who cannot let this pipeline go through by a process of amicable negotiation, especially since TransCanada has publicly refuted the 20,000 jobs claim, have decided to keep this hot political issue going. They have put immediate approval of the pipeline on the new transportation bill. Now, they can say that not only is President Obama opposed to the pipeline, but opposed to the infrastructure spending he has been pushing for three years.

The transportation appropriations bill would re-authorize current spending on highway construction and set infrastructure spending for the future. It must be signed by June 30, when the current authorization runs out.

If the bill is not passed, 1.9 million workers will immediately be laid off. The long-term provisions of the bill are estimated to create an additional 1 million jobs. The pipeline will create 6,000 TEMPORARY jobs for its construction. So there you have it – the Republicans will lay off 1.9 million Americans, deny 1 million Americans good paying jobs, all to create 6,000 temporary jobs and a big ass piece of political propaganda.

Just, don’t try to tell these hard facts to any Fox viewer or right wing radio listener. They will say you are lying and refuse to hear the facts. That is the power of propaganda. It makes people act against their own best interests.

Related articles

• U.S. begins review of TransCanada’s new Keystone pipeline route(calgaryherald.com)

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• Meanwhile, Back On The Keystone Pipeline(lezgetreal.com)

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• TransCanada sweetens pot(omaha.com)

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• Encyclopedia of Canadian pipelines: Keystone XL and Northern Gateway(vancouverobserver.com)

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• Rahall: Keystone oil pipeline will be dropped from final highway bill(thehill.com)

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• US: TransCanada reapplies for oil pipeline(kansascity.com)

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