Longtime oil and gas workers David and Kristina Dickerson are criticizing President Joe Biden’s executive order canceling the Keystone XL pipeline. They say the order, which got them out of the project, is threatening their economic stability.
“I feel very betrayed,” said David, who worked in the oil and gas industry for 31 years, on Wednesday morning at “Fox & Friends”.
SOUTH DAKOTA HOTEL OWNER DOES BUSINESS IN JEOPARDY AFTER BIDEN’S CHANGE TO HALT KEYSTONE XL TUBE
The president signed an executive order in January revoking the March 2019 license for the Keystone XL pipeline. The project was expected to create some 13,000 high-paying union jobs in the U.S. and Canada, according to an October 2020 report.
David told Steve Doocy that canceling the project exacerbated the financial difficulties his family was already experiencing.
“We had to dive into our retirement and our 401k, just trying to survive until something like that happened,” said David. “We have depended on that to happen and it has suddenly been taken from us and we will not be able to do that now.”
Three of the couple’s four children also work in the oil and gas industry, Kristina said.
Kristina said the jobs created by the pipeline would have been an economic boost for individuals, communities and the government.
“It can put money in our pockets,” said Kristina. “The communities in which we work on the pipelines would be a great boost to their economy. And the taxes on those lines would go back into the government’s pockets. So it would be a mutual win ”.
TEXAS NATIVE LAWRENCE JONES EXPLODES BIDEN TO CANCEL KEYSTONE XL TUBE: ‘PEOPLE ARE SUFFERING NOW’
David said the industry must evolve to address environmental concerns, but that requires a more gradual approach.
“It is a good thought, but it is not a well thought out plan. They did not make it perfect,” said David. “And we still depend on fossil fuel. We will use that crude oil anyway.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION
Kristina said that no one has contacted her or her husband about alternative jobs in the energy industry. Even if an alternative job is proposed, David said he would have a hard time making the transition so late in his career.
“That’s all I know how to do besides cultivating,” said David.
“I am fifty-three years old and it is too late to start over,” he added later. “But it is too early to retire.”