Editorial: Sending jobs north

President Obama loves to tout his ability to create jobs. And sure enough, he is largely responsible for a new $15.7-billion project that could soon employ hundreds of thousands of people in North America. The trouble is, those jobs are in Canada.

In a sop to wealthy progressive green donors and a middle finger to U.S. construction unions, Mr. Obama last year nixed the planned Keystone XL pipeline project. But now TransCanada Corp. — which tried for years get Keystone built — has shifted its attention to Canada, filing paperwork there to begin construction on a new pipeline that would carry all of its product east to New Brunswick and the shipping lanes that connect to Europe and elsewhere.

While the new Energy East pipeline project does face some opposition in Canada — for now — it would create hundreds of thousands of new construction job which would last for years. The project would produce tons of crude oil, natural gas and other resources, resulting in enormous profits. In addition to building the pipeline, workers would also be needed to build new refineries to handle all of the product, as well, which would result in even more jobs, investment and growth for our neighbors to the north.

The president’s announcement last November that he was nixing Keystone was anticlimactic and politically motivated, as he repeatedly downplayed the project’s economic benefits. But there is a staggering amount of oil and natural gas under the ground in the Canadian plains and northwest. And regardless of the president’s decision, Canada was already moving toward building a pipeline over the Canadian Rockies to transport crude and natural gas to a new western port where it could be loaded onto tankers from China.

Keystone would have sent more than 800,000 barrels of that same oil each day from Canada across the Midwest to American refineries on the Gulf Coast. It would have required hundreds of miles of steel pipe, would have created thousands of new jobs and would have generated an estimated $3.4 billion in economic activity — all without Washington having to borrow or spend a dime.

But President Obama’s opposition to Keystone means American companies and workers will be largely shut out of that opportunity for revenue. Meanwhile, Canada, recognizing the global demand for energy from numerous customers across the Atlantic — including Russia — has decided to go another route (literally) instead.

So, in summary, President Obama would rather Canada sell oil to Vladimir Putin than give the go-ahead to a major infrastructure project that would generate thousands of jobs for Americans.

How much time does he have left in office?