Dakota Access pipeline means jobs

To the editor:

I thought I would weigh in on the public discussion of the Dakota Access pipeline to point out what this project means for the region's economy.

Jobs and economic growth are not where we need them to be. This recovery has been excruciatingly slow, and this pipeline is exactly the kind of private-sector, market-driven development we need to get the economy moving again.

The Bakken oil fields have turned North Dakota into a boom state and created thousands of jobs in the drilling and support industries. This pipeline is the second step in developing those fields to their highest potential. It's a multibillion dollar project that will employ thousands of construction workers, providing a real stimulus to every community it passes through. When the construction is done, we will have a direct pipeline - literally - to low-price U.S. oil. And we will have a real economic asset that produces annual property tax payments.

Any way you look at it, this project means jobs and economic growth. Don't we want both of those and right now?

Austin Graff

Iowa City