Biden acknowledges canceling Keystone XL Pipeline cost jobs, billions in potential revenue

The Biden administration has acknowledged in a congressionally mandated report that having ended the federal permit process for the Keystone XL Pipeline, essentially ending the project, cost Americans tens-of-thousands of job and the U.S. economy potentially billions in unrealized revenue.

President Biden ended the permit process for the XL pipeline – part of larger, the trans-continental Keystone crude oil pipeline – almost immediately after taking office in January 2021, amid pressure from environmental activists.

The Energy Department in late December 2022 finalized the congressional report, which stated that the Keystone XL project would have created 16,149 to 59,000 jobs and would have positively impacted the economy by $3.4 billion to $9.6 billion, citing various studies.

"The Biden administration finally owned up to what we have known all along – killing the Keystone XL Pipeline cost good-paying jobs, hurt Montana’s economy and was the first step in the Biden administration’s war on oil and gas production in the United States," said Montana GOP Sen. Steve Daines. "Unfortunately, the administration continues to pursue energy production anywhere but the United States."

The Energy Department told Fox News Digital that thousands of jobs that were expected to be made during the pipeline construction. 

"The U.S. Department of Energy released a report evaluating existing analysis on economic and job effects of the XL portion of Keystone pipeline," the DOE said in the Fox News Digital interview. "It concluded there were limited job impacts, with approximately 50 permanent jobs estimated to have been created were the pipeline operational."