The Obama administration is, once again, reaching into the wallets of Americans. This time, it will be done via a new draft air pollution rule that businesses have labeled the “most expensive regulation ever imposed on the American public.”
According to Politico, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is “under court order” to move forward with the new regulation that would “lower the amount of ground-level ozone pollution that is considered healthy to breathe, which in turn could lead to costly new requirements for air pollution permits in much of the country.” One study found that the regulation would “wipe out $3.4 trillion in economic output and 2.9 million jobs by 2040.” Three years ago, President Obama backed down from a similar regulation due to political pressure.
In hopes of getting Obama to “back down again on what they see as a multitrillion-dollar hit to the economy,” Republicans are—once again—combating the rule. Politico,
Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe, the incoming chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said in a statement Tuesday night that EPA’s proposal “will lower our nation’s economic competitiveness and stifle job creation for decades,” and vowed that it “will face rigorous oversight” from the new Congress.
Louisiana Sen. David Vitter argues that tightening the ozone standard “will shut down job-creating projects in every state,” and South Dakota Sen. John Thune introduced legislation that would force EPA to postpone the action. “I expect there to be strong, bipartisan opposition to what will be the most expensive EPA regulation in history,” Thune said in a statement Monday, adding that a lower ozone limit would “have a devastating impact on American jobs and energy prices.”
The new rule even has some Democrats running scared. Politico points out that Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear issued a plea for Obama to back off. The governor wrote, “The growth of our economy is dependent on it.”
On the other hand, green extremists are banking on “an increasingly activist Obama” to allow the EPA’s new rule to stand. Unfortunately, probability is on their side. As delusional the quote, Rena Steinzor, president of the Center for Progressive Reform, was right when pointed to an Obama who is in the mindset of “I am liberated and I’m able to do what I want to cement my legacy,’ which is the way he sort of reacted on immigration, and has gotten a lot of applause on that, despite the endless screaming by conservatives.”
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