Obama seems to have nixed the Keystone XL pipeline for the time being, but that has not stopped the oil and gas industry from aggressively lobbying and attack the President for, in their words, preventing the creation of 20,000 new jobs. However, closer analysis shows that the potential job creation with the construction of the pipeline is closer to a fourth of that number. In fact, the President that they attack so ferociously has created ten times the number of jobs that will likely be created by the Keystone’s construction, all without placing people and the environment in danger.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 75,000 jobs in the oil and gas sector have been created during Obama’s tenure, a number that has greatly assisted the heavily hit southern economies over the last three years. The majority of those jobs have been created within the last year, even as oil lobbyists and conservative politicians attempt to characterize the President as an enemy of the petroleum industry. In addition, a previous set of figures out from the Labor Bureau over the summer showed that under Obama’s presidency we have seen more active domestic oil wells than under any other president.

The industry has also been attempting to spread an untruth in the form of job creation. Jobs, which has been a central topic in the Presidential election cycle (and will continue to be), have been a popular talking point by conservatives and liberals alike. The oil industry, in lobbying for the construction of the pipeline have claimed that 20,000 jobs will be created, both directly by the pipeline, and in indirect support services. However, a recent and less biased assessment of potential job creation shows that the number is closer to 6,000 jobs. Hardly the job creation cure-all that conservatives have been touting. The analysis was completed by the Center for American Progress, and was corroborated by the State Department, Cornell University, and even TransCanada itself, which is building the pipeline. However, that hasn’t prevented people like Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donahue from saying that, “creating jobs is not a high priority for this administration.” Even Presidential front-runner Mitt Romney said, “If Americans want to understand why unemployment in the United States has been stuck above 8 percent for the longest stretch since the Great Depression, decisions like this one are the place to begin.”

Despite being one of the most aggressive presidents since the mid-80’s in promoting oil and gas production, even to the point of alienating his environmental base, he continues to be attacked by conservatives and lobbies as an anti-oil, anti-jobs President. It just goes to show that facts will not stand in the way of conservative ideology or propagandizing.