Bob,
I'm glad your beat me to the keyboard, as you've hit the same points I had from reading Alan's post - temporary jobs are of no value, the number of jobs, supply & demand, etc, etc, but you did it much more eloquently than I. The sad thing is that in Canada they are actively pursuing the construction of an east/west pipeline to BC, siting specifically that Obama blocked the pipeline to the US, and that they need an outlet for their crude now, not five years from now. Thwarted On US Oil Pipeline, Canada Looks To China : NPR It also points out that 97% of Canada's oil production currently flows to the US, so creating a new market for all of this crude from their tar sands area to China creates diversification. There are people expressing environmental concerns with a pipeline terminal in the pristine BC coastal area, but as stated pipeline projects are very rarily blocked in Canada - they apparently understand the free economy principals better than the average US citizen. Oh, and for those who say, "Why not ship it to Houston??" Take a look at the shipping route from BC to Houston - do you really want to be dependent on the Panama Canal, or sailing around the tip of South America for a large chunk of our oil supply? Talk about increased costs of transportation!!

Any project that decreases the demand for Saudi oil is a good thing. I think most of us recall in detail the impacts of the oil embargo of '73 did to our energy picture. We're shooting ourselves in the foot here, and some seem to think that's OK as they still have one good foot and they can hop!!