Whatever his other qualities, outgoing White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley seemed to understand that punitive environmental policies entail tradeoffs. When one environmentalist explained the health risks of increased air pollutants, Daley asked, rhetorically, “What are the health impacts of unemployment?” That sense that the economic damage wrought by environmental regulation must not be ignored has been sorely missing from the president’s economic policies (though Daley reportedly tempered the president’s knee-jerk regulatory agenda). With him gone, the president is reverting to his old “have your cake and eat it …
The EPA’s analysis of the new mercury rule (the Utility Maximum Achievable Control Technology, or Utility MACT) is yet another example of regulatory bait-and-switch. The rule refers to mercury but really targets CO2, and it generates its purported benefits from reducing particulates that are already covered by other regulations. For an excellent and revealing analysis of the EPA calculations, see Anne E. Smith’s technical comments. The EPA claims this rule would produce $53 billion to $140 billion in annual benefits, but at most $6 million of the benefits come from …
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman clarified his position on how policymakers should deal with climate change. In a speech Tuesday at The Heritage Foundation he said, “There’s not enough information right now to be able to formulate policies.” Even if there were a consensus that there is global warming, and it’s man-made, then the United States might still choose not to take unilateral action, he added. Premature political action, he noted, could jeopardize economic recovery for a potentially ineffectual attempt to tackle the issue. “The scientific community owes us more,” …
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson recently announced that her agency would proceed with twice-delayed regulations targeting power plants that emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Mrs. Jackson’s decision ignores three vital pieces of information that should make it easy for Congress to prevent unelected bureaucrats from regulating CO2: • The EPA inspector general’s finding that EPA did not follow federal data quality standards in preparing its “endangerment finding” regarding greenhouse gases. • The profusion of scientific dissent. • The massive economic costs and minimal environmental benefits. In …
President Obama may have finally added or saved a few jobs—7.3 million to be specific. In a surprising but welcome move, the President asked Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson to withdraw the agency’s draft for more stringent Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). This is an important victory for businesses as well as the additional 565 U.S. counties that would have been pushed into non-attainment status and suffered economically as a result. The EPA’s regulatory overreach on this one rule would have destroyed 7.3 million jobs and …
President Barack Obama has a problem on his hands when even his stalwart allies at The New York Times have no choice but to admit to a glaring reality: The President’s “green jobs” promise has failed miserably. On Friday, the Times printed a harsh assessment of the state of the “green” economy—including a conclusion that the President’s promise to create five million green jobs over 10 years has proven to be nothing more than “a pipe dream,” with California’s Bay Area providing a particularly poignant example of how “green” jobs have …
In a scenario best-saved for a science-fiction novel, two scientists from Penn State and another scientist from NASA have sounded another bell in global warming alarmism – Aliens. Yes, aliens. According to a report published by the three scientists, so-called “Universalist Aliens” may view our over-use of greenhouse gases as a way that would unintentionally destroy other civilizations, so we must be preemptively destroyed. Make sense doesn’t it? The report goes on to state: It would be particularly important for us to limit our emissions of greenhouse gases, since atmospheric …
Bloomberg reported Friday on the latest developments in the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulatory push against the fossil fuel industry. Southern Co., the largest American utility owner in terms of market share, now says it will lose up to $18 billion as a result of new EPA regulations. The planned regulations “are misguided in their content and timing,” Southern Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thomas Fanning said today in a statement. Southern, based in Atlanta, is among energy companies that say new rules from President Barack Obama’s EPA will force some …
The April 20, 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico devastated the Gulf economy, which, more than a year later, has yet to fully recover from the disaster. In en effort to explore relief efforts and “lessons learned” from the spill, the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship will hold a field hearing in Pensacola, FL, on Monday. Witnesses for the hearing will include Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Adam Putnam, Pensacola Chamber of Commerce Chairman Collier Merrill, and others involved in the local economy. The hearing …
Catching you up on clips, commentary and news of the day. Sign up for the daily email update from Scribe. Addicted to subsidies – Derek Scissors Health-care legislation will take millions off the tax rolls – Brian Blase & Paul Winfree Tax hikes not needed to balance budget – Curtis Dubay Budget Danger Ahead: How Republicans could get snookered again – James C. Capretta EPA stimulating environmental regulations abroad – John Rossomando Energy Clarity 101 – Mark Green E.P.A. Chief Stands Firm as Tough Rules Loom – John M. Broder Small …
