New details were released by TransCanada today on the potential job creation that awaits once the Keystone XL pipeline is approved. The data shows that the pipeline will create 20,000 jobs – 7,000 specific to manufacturing.

December’s employment report showed a lower unemployment rate of 8.5 percent. While this is good news, it does not restore the certainty that Americans need. The Keystone XL pipeline is the key to a national energy plan that strives for affordable, reliable and secure energy.

TransCanada boasts the residual effect of the pipeline.

“Hundreds of jobs will be created through requirements for fuel, coating materials, welding supplies, concrete materials, geo-textile materials, pipeline weights, native seed materials for reclamation, cathodic protection materials, crushed rock, sediment barrier materials, valve and pigging assemblies, field trailer manufacturing, construction mats, power facility materials, aggregate manufacturing, road construction materials, water and waste facility manufacturing, fencing materials, communication infrastructure, bridge construction materials and many others.”

The ball is now in President Obama’s court. Congress gave President Obama 60 days to deny that the Keystone XL pipeline is in our nation’s best interest. Manufacturers, who are excited about this opportunity to invest and expand, remain waiting on the sidelines.

This afternoon the House voted 226-185 to pass H.Res. 501, which expressed the sense of the House regarding a final measure to extend the payroll tax holiday. The resolution included sections pertaining to the economic impact of the EPA’s Boiler MACT rules and the importance of the Keystone XL pipeline.

H.Res. 501 on Boiler MACT:

Whereas EPA’s new proposed rules for boilers would cost manufacturers, colleges and universities, municipalities, and small businesses $15 billion and put up to 240,000 jobs at risk;

Whereas significant concerns with EPA’s new proposed rules cannot be adequately addressed or remedied unless Congress passes legislation; and

Whereas the House of Representatives passed on October 13, 2011, by a vote of 275 to 142, with the support of 41 Democrats, legislation that would overturn EPA’s Boiler MACT rules and require the agency to re-propose new rules in 15 months after date of enactment, with achievable standards, and an extension of the compliance period. (continue reading…)

On December 2^nd the EPA released the new proposed Boiler MACT rules and now the Council of Industrial Boiler Owners released the new updated report of the impact these harmful rules will have on jobs.

The updated report conducted by CIBO and IHS Global Insight estimates that the impact of the reconsidered Boiler MACT rules on ICI Boiler and Process Heater Owners and Operators will put 240,181 jobs at risk, 10,000 more than the previous rule, and cost more than $15 billion to comply. The states that will be impacted the hardest by these rules will be North Carolina and Indiana with more than 16,000 jobs at risk.

This is a regulation that manufacturers just can’t afford right now when they are continuing to recover and trying to create jobs. We will continue to work with EPA on the revision of the rules and push for legislation curb the impact of Boiler MACT.

Today, President Obama and former President Clinton rolled out a new challenge, focusing on public and private sector investment in energy efficiency upgrades for federal buildings.  The first portion, dealing with private buildings, challenges the private sector to upgrade nearly 1.6 billion square feet of commercial and industrial property.

The second portion, focusing on federal building energy efficiency upgrades, highlights the Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPC).  Finally, the third portion, dealing with existing tax incentives, looks at improving section 179D of the Internal Revenue Code that allows for deductions for the cost of qualifying energy efficient commercial buildings. 

This is a welcomed announcement as manufacturers, using nearly one-third of the nation’s energy, rely on energy efficiency to reduce the cost and use of energy and pollution.  Furthermore, the streamlining of section 179D is an important step as it will improve utilization of the credit. 

Most importantly, as the challenge pushes for the private sector improvements, it also requires the federal agencies to enter into a minimum of $2 billion in performance-based contracts over the next 2 years.  It’s important to note that this financial commitment is based on the energy savings that the federal buildings will realize after the upgrade. 

This will allow manufacturers to assess and upgrade federal buildings while driving demand for these products and technologies and creating new jobs. This is a welcomed policy at a time when employment report for November shows a stall in manufacturing jobs.

Mahta Mahdavi is director of energy and resourced policy, National Association of Manufacturers.

Last weekend software company SAP’s unique approach to sustainability was featured on the season premiere of John Holden’s “The Green Room” on the Discovery Channel. SAP helps its customers, including manufacturers, implement programs to help their companies run more efficiently and sustainably.

Holden highlights SAP’s cutting-edge “Green IT” solutions help companies establish more energy efficient computing operations. SAP Chief Sustainability Officer Peter Graf estimates that Green IT could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 16 percent. 

Holden also notes that SAP’s commitment to sustainability does not stop with its customers. The company has a robust corporate sustainability program which aims to reduce the company’s environmental impact. SAP’s offices have high-efficiency data centers, solar roof panels, a fleet of electric vehicles and charging stations in the employee parking lots.

Learn more about SAP’s top-notch sustainability services here. Its 2010 Sustainability Report is available here. 

Alicia Meads is director of energy and resources policy, National Association of Manufacturers.

Earlier this week the U.S. Forest Service delayed the lease sale of approximately 3,300 acres in the Wayne National Forest for shale oil and gas drilling. The Forest Service states that conditions have changed since the 2006 Forest plan was developed.

The exploration and development of shale oil and gas is creating thousands of jobs across Ohio and neighboring states, and providing a significant economic boost to the local communities. The impacts of shale exploration and development are felt throughout the economy, from the companies that do the fracturing all the way to the local restaurants and hotels.

Just recently the Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program estimated that drilling in the Utica shale in Ohio would produce up to 204,500 jobs by 2015. These much-needed jobs are put at risk with the delay of the lease sale. 

Manufactures remain concerned with how this delay and potential future delays will directly impact their energy costs and ability to compete. Access to affordable sources of energy is directly linked to the competitiveness of manufacturers as they use one-third of our nation’s energy supply. 

We are hopeful that this lease sale delay in the Wayne National Forest does not trigger a chain reaction for similar delays throughout the country, potentially locking up an important resource and driver of job creation.  Our nation needs jobs and shale development provides a tremendous opportunity for job creation as well as access to an important and valuable new source of energy.

Chip Yost is vice president for energy and resources policy, National Association of Manufacturers.

This afternoon the State Department announced the decision on approving the Keystone XL pipeline will be delayed until after the 2012 election or perhaps into the first quarter of 2013. This delays the creation of more than 118,000 jobs that would be created as a result of the pipeline.

National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons released this statement below on the decision to delay approval:

“It is unacceptable and outrageous that the Obama Administration has made a decision to prevent 118,000 jobs from being created. The Keystone XL pipeline is a shovel-ready project that must be approved. 

Manufacturers continue to face unprecedented challenges to their competitiveness, and it’s already 20 percent more expensive to manufacture in the U.S. compared to our major trade partners. Keystone XL will provide manufacturers access to an affordable source of energy, which is critically important because manufacturers use one-third of our nation’s energy supply.

We strongly urge the Obama Administration to reverse its decision and approve Keystone XL without delay to put Americans back to work.”                  

Today, the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board Subcommittee (SEAB) on Shale Gas Production released its second and final ninety-day report which analyzes the progress that has been made on the recommendations of its previous report, issued on August 18, 2011. The new report criticizes federal agencies, state governments, industry and public interest groups for not moving quickly enough on its recommendations of increased regulation on hydraulic fracturing – a critical technology that allow us to access the nation’s rich shale gas resources.

For example, the SEAB urges more regulatory action on the following areas:

• Air Emissions – Even though the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently working on regulations that would reduce emissions at hydraulic fracturing sites, the SEAB’s report claims the proposed rules do not go far enough and should be expanded to include more wells.
• Chemical Disclosure – The SEAB wants to see more disclosure of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing fluid and believes that there should be an extremely high bar for trade secret protection. The subcommittee quickly discounts current efforts underway including voluntary disclosure websites such as fracfocus.org and the Department of Interior’s (DOI) intent to require the disclosure of fracturing fluid composition on federal lands.
• Water Discharge Standards – The EPA is currently in the process of studying the impact of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water and has also announced a schedule setting waste water discharge standards for some fracturing activities. The SEAB, however, believes that the EPA should not wait until the study is complete to take additional regulatory actions.

The SEAB’s draft report outlines unrealistic expectations and does little to highlight the efforts that industry and regulators have already made to ensure that these activities are conducted safely. It is unreasonable to expect that industry and federal, state and local regulators could institute complex new regulatory programs in three months. Increased access to our nation’s shale gas resources means more affordable energy and more jobs for our nation’s struggling economy. The SEAB’s recommendations to pile on unnecessary and complex regulations could quickly put an end to the nation’s shale gas revolution.

There have been several reports in the media today that the Obama Administration is considering delaying the decision on the Keystone XL pipeline. The reports state that the Administration may wait until late next year after the 2012 elections to make the decision on moving forward with this essential project.

Manufacturers cannot afford for the decision on the Keystone XL to be delayed. Including the energy costs, it is already 20 percent more expensive to manufacture in the U.S. compared to our major trade partners. The Keystone XL project will provide manufacturers with access affordable energy and create jobs, as many as 20,000 during its construction. And it’s just not construction jobs that will be created. A project this large creates thousands of spin-off jobs. The Perryman Report estimates that the project will create an additional 118,000 indirect jobs.  

With the manufacturing sector struggling to gain jobs, as we saw in last Friday’s October Employment Report, it’s important that the Administration approve the Keystone XL project as soon as possible. We hope that the Administration will no longer delay the decision and move forward with approving the pipeline by the end of the year to help create much-needed jobs!

Twenty-two Democratic lawmakers, led by Rep. Gene Green (D-TX), voiced their support for approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline Project in a letter to President Obama on October 19. The letter highlights the importance of the project to the nation’s economy and our energy security.

The $20 billion investment will create 20,000 direct domestic jobs and 118,000 spin-off jobs. In addition, it will provide the United States with the opportunity to access reliable and affordable energy supplies from Canada, reducing our need to import crude oil from less stable countries and regions of the world.

The Keystone XL pipeline enjoys broad-based support from manufacturers (see the NAM comments to the State Department), labor unions, federal lawmakers, state officials and veterans’ groups. As the letter states, “America truly cannot afford to say ‘no’ to this privately funded, $20 billion, jobs-creating infrastructure project, which would bolster our economic, energy and national security.” 

Alicia Meads is director of energy and resources policy, National Association of Manufacturers.