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 … More
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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 … More
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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,” … More
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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 … More
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