Big business and the Obama administration held competing rallies on opposite sides of the country on Monday, as industry groups rallied against Obama’s new emission regulations and the president heralded them.
While the president jetted to flashy Las Vegas to address a clean energy summit and announce a number of solar energy initiatives to support his climate change agenda, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce held a forum in gritty Columbus, Ohio, to oppose what they say is the most expensive regulation in history — the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule for smog-forming ozone.
The clock is ticking on the ozone rule, which is slated to be finalized by Oct. 1. Industry officials say the ozone rule has taken a back seat to Obama’s climate regulations in recent months. The goal of the Ohio event and others like it is to re-focus attention back on the ozone regulations to convince the administration not to go forward.
Industry argues the rule will have a deleterious effect on growing new business opportunities in the state, which will erode jobs.
“Under tightened [ozone] standards, Ohio small businesses will likely halt expansion plans and outside development will look to other regions,” says William Kovacs, senior vice president of environment and regulatory affairs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “Those most at risk of being denied future job opportunities are the eight million Ohioans living in urban areas that will be disproportionately impacted by efforts in high population areas to decrease ground ozone levels.”
The U.S. Chamber, National Association of Manufacturers, the American Petroleum Institute and other groups say the rules would force nearly every city in the country into non-compliance, which would place restrictions on economic growth and harm major infrastructure development. Under the rules, even pristine wilderness areas with no industrial activity would not comply. They want EPA to rescind the rule, and allow states to simply comply with the current 2008 ozone rules.
Industry argues that the rules are the most expensive in history, and will reduce American economic output by trillions of dollars.
The rally in Columbus was held on the same day President Obama was in Nevada to promote the Clean Power Plan, a landmark regulation for cutting emissions from power plants that is the centerpiece of his climate change agenda.
“Solar isn’t just for the green crowd anymore,” Obama said. People are making the shift to cleaner energy solutions because of the cost savings, “not because of tree huggers” but “because they are cost cutters.”
Big businesses like Wal-Mart and Google are investing in renewables to save money. “They’re not doing this out of altruism, they are doing it for cost savings.”
The Clean Power Plan, which was finalized on Aug. 3, places states on the hook to reduce one-third of their emissions by 2030. It has found wide opposition from the GOP and coal states who plan to sue the Environmental Protection Agency as soon as the plan is published in the Federal Register.
The ozone rules will also likely be challenged in the courts, if they aren’t changed before being made final, say observers.
In recent weeks, groups have been sounding the alarm, voicing concerns over an “avalanche” of regulations that are just as impactful as the Clean Power Plan. Officials with the American Petroleum Institute, which participated in the Columbus rally, dubbed the pending action a regulatory “avalanche,” which includes the ozone rules and a number of others targeting emissions from the oil and gas sector.
But at the top of this list is the ozone rule. Harry Alford, president and CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce, said the regulation “would stall economic development in communities from coast to coast, with urban areas in particular coming out on the losing end.”
Alford addressed the forum in Ohio on Monday. He said “[w]hile minorities find President Obama’s environmental record admirable, they clearly understand the focus needs to be on jobs and growth. And the ozone rule doesn’t fit that bill.”
The Chamber of Commerce issued a report that shows the EPA rule would reduce the state’s economic activity by over $23 billion from 2017 to 2040. The effect of the rule would be the loss of almost 23,000 jobs annually, while costing each household $450 per year.
President Obama will continue his climate change tour on Aug. 27 in New Orleans by commemorating the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina that devastated the city. White House officials say he will discuss the need to prepare for more extreme weather as a result of climate change. He will then travel to Alaska on Aug. 31 to address the impacts of global warming on the Arctic.
