Keystone XL Pipeline's Gift: 42,000 jobs
Caterpillar CEO calls for the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in Chicago Tribune
The United States has climbed out of the great recession, but we need to keep creating good jobs. U.S. manufacturers are doing their part — hiring 740,000 additional workers since 2008 and paying nearly $25 per hour. They want to do even more.
U.S. manufacturers want construction of the Keystone XL pipeline to finally begin.
Think how manufacturers will help grow the U.S. economy if after more than six years of examination, review and debate, this pipeline is finally approved. Manufacturers can hire tens of thousands of workers to build a modern, state-of-the-art pipeline, delivering a project that will increase U.S. energy supplies.
Let the construction begin and manufacturers will build. They will buy tires, iron castings, electric components, textiles, concrete and asphalt. They will also buy native seed for land restoration. They will buy these supplies from Oregon, from Arkansas, from Louisiana, Ohio and Indiana, from all across the country, creating jobs in small and large businesses all along the way.
Let the construction begin and manufacturers will hire laborers, welders, mechanics, clerks, engineers and office managers. Although some argue that the bulk of hiring will be insufficient — only 42,000 temporary construction-related jobs and far fewer permanent ones — think about it this way: Putting 42,000 people to work is like employing every undergraduate and graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Creating more than 42,000 jobs — even temporary jobs — is no small matter, especially when the United States faces historically low labor participation rates like we do now.
