Sen. Lankford Believes Completion Of Keystone XL Pipeline Could Bring Jobs To Oklahoma

One of the top supporters of the Keystone XL pipeline is Oklahoma Senator James Lankford. Lankford is voicing his support for the pipeline on social media, but with that support comes opposition.

Dr. Richard Johnson, a local political science professor at Oklahoma City University, believes that some of the pipelines opposition comes from environmentalists concerned about the type of oil being moved from Canada. Johnson says a heavier form of oil will be used that requires more refining.

“You have a spill somewhere along the way, this is a little different type of oil that would be more difficult to deal with in terms of what it might do to the land,” said Johnson.

Lankford, however, remains vocal in his support of the pipeline. Thursday, Lankford tweeted that the pipeline would be a “solid move for energy independence and jobs in Oklahoma.”

The Keystone XL pipeline has been complete in Oklahoma for years so News 9’s Justin Dougherty asked Lankford how our state could be impacted by the completion of the pipeline. Lankford’s team said that the theory is that the extension would bring in more crude and feed refineries to Oklahoma, which would lead to more infrastructure jobs. Lankford also says Oklahoma’s oil field and service companies could be called in to complete the pipeline in other states. 

The U.S. State Department projects Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska would each need to hire between 2,700 and 4,000 construction workers to connect the pipeline from Canada to Kansas.