Former President George W. Bush had some quick advice to bring a boom to the job market during a conference in Pittsburgh: Start construction on the Keystone XL pipeline.
Only his words were more colorful: “Build the damn thing.”
Mr. Bush’s advice came as he was keynote speaker at the annual Developing Unconventionals, or DUG, energy conference.
“I think the goal of the country ought to be ‘how do we grow the private sector?’ That ought to be the laser-focus of any administration. And therefore, once that’s the goal, an issue like Keystone pipeline becomes a no-brainer,” Mr. Bush said, according to a recording obtained by Breitbart.
“So what should a concerned administration do? If private sector growth is the goal and Keystone pipeline creates 20,000 new private sector jobs,” he said. “Build the damned thing.”
The Keystone pipeline has been an Obama administration thorn for more than two years. Predicted to provide thousands of jobs, the project has nonetheless sent environmentalists into a tizzy.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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