Carlton Carroll | 202.682.8114 | carrollc@api.org
WASHINGTON, August 23, 2011 – API's Howard Feldman, director of regulatory and scientific affairs, welcomed the White House plans to eliminate unnecessary regulations that are costing American jobs and harming our economy. He called on the president to add the proposed new EPA ozone rule, greenhouse gas regulations, and upcoming "Tier 3" fuel standards to the top of the list.
"For the sake of American workers the American economy, we urge the administration and the EPA to stop the out-of-cycle ozone rule, the greenhouse gas regulations, and the upcoming 'Tier 3' fuel standards that could all raise costs and destroy jobs in America," Feldman said. "The administration needs to put its money where its mouth is and stop these out of control regulations."
Feldman said that federal officials have no authority to regulate carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act since that policy was never intended by Congress.
A Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI study found that EPA's ozone proposal could result in 7.3 million U.S. jobs lost by 2020 and could add $1 trillion in new regulatory costs per year between 2020 and 2030. "The discretionary proposed ozone regulation is not workable and would impose a severe burden on manufacturers and the entire American economy at a time when workers and businesses are really struggling," Feldman said. "Existing emission controls have led to significant improvements in air quality and will continue to produce cleaner air. We need to allow existing regulations to work before we consider adding new ones."
A recent study says that upcoming EPA "Tier 3" fuel requirements could raise the cost of manufacturing gasoline, lead to the closing of domestic refineries, and force the U.S. to double its gasoline imports – while causing increased carbon dioxide emissions.
"These regulations stand in sharp contrast to the president's Executive Order to address the breadth of outmoded, ineffective, insufficient or excessively burdensome regulations," Feldman said.
Click here for the full list of suggestions API submitted to EPA and here for suggestions to DOI.
API represents more than 480 oil and natural gas companies, leaders of a technology-driven industry that supplies most of America's energy, supports 9.2 million U.S. jobs and 7.7 percent of the U.S. economy, delivers more than $86 million a day in revenue to our government, and, since 2000, has invested more than $2 trillion in U.S. capital projects to advance all forms of energy, including alternatives.