Yet more evidence comes our way this morning of the anti-stimulus effects of Federal regulation. At a time when our industries are desperately fighting for breath, US government agencies have their collective (and collectivist) foot firmly on industry’s neck.
The new evidence comes from a report by the minority staff of the US Senate Committee on Environmental and Public Works (EPW). Entitled “EPA’s Anti-Industrial Policy: Threatening Jobs and America’s Manufacturing Base,” it outlines just how much the Environmental Protection Agency’s current policies menace honest manufacturers. The report finds, for instance, that new standards for commercial and industrial boilers place almost 800,000 jobs at risk. Similarly, new standards for Portland Cement plants may cause 18 plants to shut down, threatening over 10,000 jobs in total.
The boiler rule comes from an over-zealous interpretation of the Clean Air Act. The EPA claims that it is necessary to reduce emissions of mercury, hydrogen chloride and other hazardous air pollutants. However, EPA’s proposed standards are so stringent that not even the best performing sources can meet them. This is because the EPA has used a provision of the Clean Air Act that requires the Maximum Available Control Technology (MACT) to reduce emissions. The upgrade costs required of industry to meet this standard are such that most, from steel makers to biomass converters, will probably have to shut down instead.
It’s a similar story with cement. Again, the EPA is mandating a MACT standard that the industry contends no-one has actually been able to meet in practice. In all probability the cement plants will close and US cement production will simply move to China, where environmental standards are lower than present US standards.
These are just two examples of how US government agencies are doing all they can to kill off industry while the politicians supposedly overseeing them are talking about breathing new life into it. Another recent study, for the Small Business Administration, found that regulatory costs amount to a staggering $1.75 trillion annually. The average business faces regulatory costs of over $8,000 and the average small business over $10,000 each year.
If our political leaders are serious about stimulus, they will begin by liberating business from the staggering burden of regulation, and they should start by blocking these foolish new EPA regulations.
