FRANKSVILLE – Three Republican congressmen from Wisconsin joined in the reaction against the White House decision to halt the Keystone pipeline project, claiming that “hundreds” of Wisconsin workers are losing their jobs while the huge and controversial construction project was halted this week .
The decision to revoke the license allowing the construction of Keystone XL was one of the first executive orders signed by new President Joe Biden, leading to praise from environmental groups, but heavy criticism from proponents of the oil and gas project, including three of the representatives of Wisconsin in Congress.
Friday’s press conference at a construction site for Michels Corporation, a national construction contractor based in Brownsville, Wisconsin, was attended by Republican representatives Bryan Steil (District 1), Glenn Grothman (District 6) and the newly elected Scott Fitzgerald (District 5). Michels is subcontracted to TC, the Calgary-based company that is building the pipeline.
Watch the press briefing here:
More than 1,000 jobs linked to the Keystone project will be eliminated in the coming weeks, Keystone XL President Richard Prior said earlier this week. “Hundreds” of those jobs being phased out are taken by Wisconsin workers, Republican congressmen said on Friday.
“I think his decision is disgusting. Hundreds of Wisconsin workers lost their jobs because of what Joe Biden did. He needs to reconsider this action and get Wisconsin workers back to work,” Rep. Steil told reporters.
Andrew Burton
GASCOYNE, ND – OCTOBER 14: Miles of unused tubes, prepared for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, sit on a lot on October 14, 2014 outside of Gascoyne, North Dakota. (Photo by Andrew Burton / Getty Images)
A Michels general manager at the briefing also said that hundreds of workers were laid off and “many of them live in Wisconsin”.
The Keystone pipeline was to extend 1,700 miles between Alberta, Canada and the Texas Gulf Coast, cutting through the states of Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma. The pipeline was planned to carry around 800,000 barrels of oil per day.
Rep. Grothman focused on the possible repercussions of the decision on the largest trading partners and neighbors in the US, Canada and Mexico.
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“It is very important to have good relations with the two,” said Grothman. “I’m sure Canada thought it was a closed deal. This is part of their economic development. And on the first day, Biden steps off the ramp and hits Canada right in the face. Amateur night at the White House, I’ll say that to you. “
The pipeline was first proposed in 2008 and soon became a symbol of the tensions between economic development that depends on traditional sources of energy, such as gas and oil, and the effort to curb emissions of fossil fuels that cause climate change.
Former President Barack Obama rejected the pipeline proposal. Former President Donald Trump revived him.
Congressman Fitzgerald used his several minutes at the press conference to call for a legislative push to revoke President Biden’s executive order by closing the pipeline.
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“I am hopeful not only for being here today, but I think that other elected officials – whether at the state legislative level or in Congress – is where the answer is to reverse that,” he said. Fitzgerald also asked Democratic lawmakers in Wisconsin to urge the White House to reverse the decision.
Critics of the pipeline say that operations in Alberta’s oil sands increase greenhouse gas emissions and threaten the province’s environment. But Rep. Steil said those fears are overblown.
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“Environmental concerns are very misleading for many people,” said Steil. “Oil and gas are yet to be transported to the United States of America. It will be done by rail – a less efficient way of moving gas, with a greater risk to the environment due to railway accidents ”.
Tribal and environmental groups applauded President Biden’s decision.
“This is a 10-year claim defending our waters and the rights of the treaty from that bituminous sands carbon bomb,” Dallas Goldtooth, a member of the Mdewakanton Dakota and Dine nations, told The Guardian. for our communities and climate and I look forward to similar executive action to stop DAPL and Line 3 based on these same dangers. “
Outside the statements of Wisconsin lawmakers, it is not confirmed how many Wisconsin workers will lose their jobs in connection with the cancellation of the Keystone pipeline.
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