‘When do they get green jobs?’: White House press secretary snaps at reporter over laid-off pipeline workers

“Killing good union jobs on day one with nothing to replace them is not building back better,” said the Laborers’ International Union of North America.

By Josh Plank, World Israel News

U.S. Press Secretary Jen Psaki ridiculed a reporter on Monday who asked when thousands of paycheck-to-paycheck workers, who lost their jobs when President Joe Biden revoked the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, could expect to hear about their new jobs in the green energy industry.

Fox News‘ Peter Doocy said that the Biden administration had promised the workers green jobs, and he asked to know “when it is and where it is that they can go for their green job?”

“Well, I’d certainly welcome you to present your data of all the thousands and thousands of people who won’t be getting a green job,” replied Psaki, adding, “Maybe next time you’re here, you can present that.”

Instead of waiting for “next time,” the reporter continued, “But you said that they would be getting green jobs. So I’m just asking when that happens.”

Doocy cited an Axios interview with Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor unions in the U.S.

When asked about Biden’s executive order canceling the Keystone XL pipeline, Trumka said, “Well, I wish he hadn’t done that on the first day, because the Laborers’ International [LIUNA] was right. It did and will cost us jobs in the process.”

“I wish he had paired that more carefully with the thing that he did second by saying, ‘Here’s where we’re creating jobs,'” said Trumka.

Doocy also cited a LIUNA statement which said, “By blocking this 100 percent union project, and pandering to environmental extremists, a thousand union jobs will immediately vanish and 10,000 additional jobs will be foregone.”

LIUNA said, “We support the President’s campaign to ‘build back better.’ But for union members affected by this decision, there are no renewable energy jobs that come even close to replacing the wages and benefits the Keystone XL project would have provided. Killing good union jobs on day one with nothing to replace them is not building back better.”

Psaki responded that Biden had “laid out a plan that will not only create millions of good union jobs, but also help tackle the climate crisis,” and that “he has every plan to share more about his details of that plan in the weeks ahead.”

Last month, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry faced harsh criticism after he said that American oil workers should make “better choices” and instead “go to work to make the solar panels.”

Jen Psakirenewable energyUS jobs