The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) has released a study that predicts a whole lot of pain will result from looming Environmental Protection Agency regulations. In a press release, NAM says that the regulations will “cost manufacturers hundreds of billions of dollars and cause the loss of several million jobs.”
The study look at the cumulative effects of the EPA’s final Utility MACT and Boiler MACT rules, the pending Coal Combustion Residuals and Cooling Water Intake Structures regulations, the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule and the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone. Those effects, according to the study, are massive and negative.
Key findings of the report include the following:
· The annual compliance costs for all six regulations range from $36 billion to $111.2 billion (by EPA estimates) and from $63.2 billion to $138.2 billion (by industry estimates).
· The total capital expenditures for all six regulations range from $174.6 billion to $539.3 billion (by EPA estimates) and from $404.5 billion to $884.5 billion (by industry estimates).
The full study is here, and state-by-state effects are listed here.
None of these regulations have even come up in Washington’s increasingly surreal fiscal cliff talks. President Obama’s attitude to it all seems to be “America, this is going to hurt you a lot more than it’s going to hurt me.”
I eagerly await the creative ways in which Obama, the Democrats, and the MSM will blame the Republicans and Bush for any calamities that may ensue as a result of these regulations.
If, OTOH, “only” economic stagnations ensues, it will declared the “new normal,” and touted as a great economic “success.”
Based on the election results, it now appears that a majority of Americans are willing to eat s###t sandwiches and declare them as “kinda tasty.”
– Iran has the bomb, hurry up Winter Solstice and end the world already!