Thread: This Is Not A CraigsList Notice

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Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Another thing on the jobs....Maybe (though doubtful) it is only 5,000 jobs, remember the area where the jobs are at, right through the heart of low population areas. Maybe 5,000 jobs in LA or New York is no big deal, but even 100 new jobs in South Dakota is big news!!!! Heck, the big cities out here wouldn't constitute a medium sized suburb in the high population areas!!!! Same thing in Nebraska, North Dakota, Montana, Oklahoma, and Kansas---5,000 jobs out this way is a very big deal!!!!!

The way I'm starting to see this whole pipeline thing with the State Department and Obama is that the license and permits will be issued, probably about December, 2013 after the election is over and nobody has to worry about losing a few votes from a bunch of radical tree huggers!!!! IMO it's a damn shame when this and so many other issues just get postponed or dropped completely till after November, 2012!!! Getting the votes and winning a 2nd term should not be a priority over what is best for the majority of the country!!!!! This 'study' of the pipeline route has already been going on for 40 months and cost us who knows how many millions of dollars.... all another 11 months of delays does is cost us taxpayers more money... and the big thing, anything that could help end our dependence on Mid-Eastern oil should be a priority for our government and not just put off for some ludicrous "wait and see" on the elections....

I'm certainly no expert on legislative procedure, but there has got to be a way that Congress can force the State Department to take action and get the permits issued, isn't there???

Dave,
The problem is that this is a continuous pipeline, running from the northern tip of Alberta south to Texas. Canada cannot start their part without permit approval for the US segment, and that has been denied formally with no promises regarding what happens later. While everyone is saying, "Oh, it will be approved in late 2012 or early 2013.", the Canadians are proceeding to re-route their line to the west, and a new transfer port in the VanCouver area. There will be no economic reason for them to build a second pipeline, just to send oil south to Texas, as they will already have a willing customer, and a viable route to deliver to the Chinese tankers. This is a case of taking careful aim at one's big toe, and then wondering why your foot hurts. We're losing a huge opportunity to ease our reliance on middle east energy here, and no one seems to care other than a few good people at CHR.

Originally Posted by rspears

Dave,
We're losing a huge opportunity to ease our reliance on middle east energy here, and no one seems to care other than a few good people at CHR.

I've been busy (isn't that why I'm retired?) so have just been following this discussion in a cursory way, so forgive me if I'm covering something again.

This pipeline isn't just about the unknown xxx number of people that will be at least temporarily employed by a real shovel ready job, both here and Canada. There are support services at both ends as well as permanent maintenance facilities along the route. Since this is a crude oil, it will have a pretty heavy viscosity, so it will need pumping stations along its route, which mean staff, though not extensive. It will also mean power needs to be generated as this oil will need to be heated to flow - more power. Then in Texas - that refinery will need to be either built or an existing be enlarged. Workers, permanent ones, will need to be hired. Then of course, those new workers will need a place to live, shop for groceries, buy their new pickup truck, send their kids to school, etc, etc. Where I live in NY's Saratoga County and only about 5-6 miles from me, Global Foundries (the AMD chip maker) is building the largest in terms of money project currently in the US at 4-6 billion dollars. This means our local unemployment is just barely noticeable. The plant is about finished, but the several surrounding towns infrastructure is being enlarged to cope with the new housing, shops, supply companies plus real estate, which had really kinda been sitting still is again increasing with many new homes being and the prices of older ones escalating ().

My point is that just cutting a trench, laying in a bunch of pipe isn't the only consideration for creating jobs. The current administration brags on about the 3MM they have created. Since there is no decent way to really measure a job creation, (is it an old position that had been open or is it new)they at best can only count the many thousands of new government 'entitlement' jobs and extrapolate the rest. I firmly believe that this administration is playing games and that suddenly this oil pipeline will be granted a permit just in time for the 2012 elections. I could rattle on, but it will only tend to screw up the rest of my day by getting me upset with the way our great country has been messed with by the Blamer in Chief and cronies