It’s a sweet Saturday morning. The sun is shining and most working class people are enjoying their normal weekend off. They are used to the smell of coffee and pancakes filling their nose on Saturday. And the sound of church hymns ringing in their ears on Sunday. 

What most of them fail to realize is that there are blue-collar men and women waking at 4 a.m. to weld away on a pipeline, to provide the world with necessary oil and gas.

While many have become accustomed to lazy Saturdays and football Sundays, these laborers have taken on 16-hour shifts in sub-zero temperatures and in 100-degree heat. 

They pray for five-day weeks, but some work for seven. They sacrifice time with their families and watching their kids grow up. They miss weddings, sporting events, birthdays and holidays. They wish to live a normal life. They are oilfield workers and pipeliners. 

I am the daughter of a roughneck who’s been working in the oilfield for 15-plus years. My message? Appreciate those who sacrifice their personal lives so we can live comfortably. Most of them don’t do it just for the paycheck; they do it because they know someone has to. 

Oil and gas is their livelihood. It’s what they live and breathe. They have families to take care of, bills to pay, just like everyone else. 

So, what’s the difference between their job and a normal American’s job? Members of government, who’ve likely never worked a blue collar job a day in their life, can take it all away from them with one vote, one signature. 

On Jan. 20, newly elected U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order that declared the permit for the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline null. 

“The Keystone XL pipeline disserves the U.S. national interest,” said Mr. Biden in his order.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the approval of the project is a “key issue” when he spoke with Mr. Biden after his inauguration, in a bid to try to save the development and salvage jobs. 

After the new order was announced, many took to social media to vent. In a controversial Facebook post that spread like wildfire across the app, one user claimed the pipeline would cost the U.S. thousands of jobs.

“By revoking the Keystone pipeline permit, Biden is destroying 11,000 jobs and roughly $2 billion in wages,” the post says. “Democrats couldn’t even get through day 1 without killing jobs for middle class Americans.”  

Facebook flagged this post as part of the social media giant’s effort to combat false claims and information. They stated these numbers were “just estimates” of the layoffs that are to come.

But, TC Energy Corporation, a company based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada that owns the Keystone XL pipeline, has said more than 1,000 people are out of work due to the President’s order as of Jan. 23. And the energy company did in fact publish the figures stated in the above Facebook post.     

In a statement released on Jan. 20, before the President’s decision, the corporation announced that they are disappointed with the expected executive action. 

“The decision would overturn an unprecedented, comprehensive regulatory process that lasted more than a decade and repeatedly concluded the pipeline would transport much needed energy in an environmentally responsible way while enhancing North American energy security,” they said. “The action would directly lead to the layoff of thousands of union workers and negatively impact ground-breaking industry commitments to use new renewable energy as well as historic equity partnerships with Indigenous communities.”

A number of PHS students have blue collar family members and notable opinions on the issue.

“Families rely on the oilfield and the pipeline for their paycheck, and I don’t understand how the government doesn’t realize how detrimental their decisions can be to the working class American,” PHS senior Jasmin Preator said. “My older brother, Stephen, who was let go from his oilfield job due to the pandemic, has a job interview for another oilfield position next week. If this administration continues to halt the oilfield and the pipeline, he’s one of many Americans who will be affected.”

According to IBIS World, there are 220,191 oil and gas pipeline construction employees in the U.S. as of Nov. 30, 2020. They also state that the pipeline industry is ranked 16th in the U.S. and 161st in the world by number of employed individuals. 

“The world runs on oil and gas,” PHS junior Cole Frank said. “Importing natural resources will cost a whole lot more money for Americans. And if you agree with getting rid of the oil and gas industry and its workers, stop putting gas in your vehicle, turn off the heat in your house and stop using the roads made from asphalt. Those are just a few luxuries you wouldn’t have without oil and gas.”