Last Friday, congressional Republicans doubled down on their criticism of the Obama administration’s unwillingness to support the Keystone XL Pipeline project following the Nebraska Supreme Court’s clearance. 

Republican leaders have stated that gaining approval for the pipeline—which would stretch from Alberta, Canada to Nebraska (en route to Texas and the Gulf of Mexico)—is one of their main goals for the final two years of Obama’s term. 

However, the expected impact of the pipeline on our country is underwhelming considering the extent to which the proposal has been hyped by Republicans. According to a review of the plan by the State Department, the pipeline will only create 3,900 construction jobs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, roughly 680,000 construction workers were unemployed in 2014. Unemployment among construction workers was 8.9 percent in 2014 and has been dropping every year since 2010. 

The project was never intended to significantly affect the United States’ energy sector, as most of the oil coming from Canada will be sent to the Gulf of Mexico to be exported to other countries. In essence, the purpose of the pipeline is to allow Canadian oil companies to be able to export their oil to countries outside of the United States. In fact, several studies, including one conducted by Cornell University’s Global Labor Institute, have shown that the pipeline could lead to higher gas prices since the exported gas would normally be going to midwest refineries.

Taking these undisputed facts into consideration, it would seem that the only logical reason why the Keystone XL Pipeline has become such a big issue for Republican leaders is that they believe it would create more jobs than any other project on the table. This could not be further from the truth. Once the pipeline is completed, only 35 employees will be needed to oversee the operations. In other words, the vast majority of the jobs created by the project will be temporary.

As Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) astutely noted during a hearing held by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last Thursday, a bill to fix our nation’s highways could result in the creation of up to 8 million new jobs. In addition, it would serve a real purpose for our country by fixing a highway system which almost all Americans depend on. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials has characterized our highway system “aging…[and] in dire need of a long-term, sustainable source of funding.” All the Keystone Pipeline will contribute to our country is the increased potential for pipeline-related disasters, which have become all too common in the United States in recent years. 

American pipelines have hundreds of leaks and ruptures every year, and 500 people have been killed in pipeline accidents since 1986, according to ProPublica. 

Although energy companies will contend that new technology and regulations mean that today’s pipelines are much safer, they inevitably become more susceptible to spills and other disasters as time goes on. “They’re ticking time bombs,” said former Senior Communications Manager for the National Wildlife Foundation Tony Iallonardo.

This project would have little impact on our nation’s employment or energy independence but could have a significant negative effect on our environment. So why is it one of the most important issues in Washington D.C. today? The Republican Party’s reliance on campaign donations from the libertarian oil moguls best known as the Koch Brothers has been well-documented. According to the Huffington Post, the billionaire oil magnates have spent a total of $700 million between this year’s midterms and the 2012 presidential campaign. It is no coincidence that they also happen to be major players in the Canadian oil industry. Not only do the Kochs own the crude oil terminal in Hardisty, Alberta where the Keystone XL pipeline would be located, they own more acreage of oil sands leases in Alberta than any other foreign oil company. They are therefore positioned to profit from the pipeline more than any other foreign lease-holder. 

In addition to the Kochs, the company behind the project—TransCanada—has spent $7 million on lobbying for the project since 2009 according to Politico.

A disturbing trend regarding the issues which are discussed during elections has been exacerbated in recent years. During the midterms in November, issues such as Ebola and ISIS which have had a relatively small impact on American voters, were consistently brought up during debates. These talking points became so popular during the election cycle because the exorbitant influence of outside money has meant that candidates have to listen to their donors more than their constituents. As a result of this mitigation of voters’ influence, candidates focus on issues which they themselves, or their donors, feel will be the best scare tactics against the opposition.

The fact that a policy as bad as the Keystone pipeline has made it to the top of the legislative agenda in Congress is a sign that the influence of big donors is not limited to our elections. If Republicans truly cared about creating jobs and helping fix our nation’s infrastructure, a highway bill would be at the top of their agenda. Unfortunately, recent Supreme Court rulings—namely Citizens United—have severely mitigated the influence that constituents are supposed to have over their elected representation in Congress. 

Congressmen are now forced to do what is best for those who helped them outbid their competition rather than answering to the needs of those that cast the votes. Our country desperately needs new policies which will stem the tide of outside money which is forcing elected officials to answer to big donors in different states, or, in the case of the Keystone Pipeline, a different country. 

Our best hope is that American voters will become educated about the extent to which big donors are damaging the democratic fabric of this country. Unfortunately, the next election is now only a year away and the issue only seems to be getting worse as time goes on. We desperately need change. What remains painfully unclear is how we will be able to accomplish that anytime soon.