The Biden administration quietly admitted the economic impact caused by canceling the Keystone XL Pipeline project.

In a congressionally mandated report, which the Department of Energy (DOE) completed in late December without any public announcement, the administration noted that the project would have created “between 16,149 and 59,000 jobs and would have had a positive economic impact of between $3.4-9.6 billion, citing various studies,” according to Fox News.

Yet, one of Biden’s first actions in office was canceling the pipeline’s permits to shut the project down.

Biden admin quietly admits canceling Keystone XL Pipeline cost thousands of jobs, billions of dollars https://t.co/IBIfVSeU7X

— Fox News Politics (@foxnewspolitics) January 5, 2023

“The Biden administration finally owned up to what MTns have known all along — killing the Keystone XL pipeline cost good-paying jobs, hurt MT’s economy and was the first step in the Biden admin’s war on oil and gas production in the United States,” said Senator Steve Daines (R-MT).

“Unfortunately, the administration continues to pursue energy production anywhere but the United States.”

“These policies may appeal to the woke left but hurt Montana’s working families,” he continued.

“I’ll keep fighting back against Biden’s anti-energy agenda and supporting Montana energy projects and jobs.”

The Biden administration finally owned up to what MTns have known all along — killing the Keystone XL pipeline cost good-paying jobs, hurt MT’s economy and was the first step in the Biden admin’s war on oil and gas production in the United States.https://t.co/ACQcrNqYug

— Steve Daines (@SteveDaines) January 5, 2023

“Now we learn the truth. Canceling Keystone cost almost 60,000 working class jobs in this country. Not to mention our energy independence. All for the fanatical climate religion of the left,” commented Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO).

Now we learn the truth. Canceling Keystone cost almost 60,000 working class jobs in this country. Not to mention our energy independence. All for the fanatical climate religion of the left https://t.co/v8XNqFKC6V

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) January 5, 2023

Fox News reported:

The DOE was forced to issue the report after Daines and Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, successfully inserted a bill mandating the report into the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Biden signed into law in November 2021. The agency was required to publish the report within 90 days of the bill’s passage but ultimately waited more than a year before releasing it.

In a statement Thursday, the DOE noted that the project would have had minimal permanent job impacts, but didn’t mention the thousands of jobs that were estimated during the construction of the pipeline.

“The U.S. Department of Energy released a report evaluating existing analysis on economic and job effects of the XL portion of Keystone pipeline,” the DOE told Fox News Digital. “It concluded there were limited job impacts, with approximately 50 permanent jobs estimated to have been created were the pipeline operational.”

Biden’s decision to cancel the pipeline has received widespread criticism from Republican lawmakers and energy industry representatives who have argued it would have helped keep gas prices down and ensure energy security.

Keystone XL had been slated to be completed early this year and transport an additional 830,000 barrels of crude oil from Canada to the U.S. through an existing pipeline network, according to its operator, TC Energy.