New Obama Energy Regulations Are a Bad Idea in an Already Weak Economy

Today the Obama Administration proposed a new rule from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about greenhouse gases from existing power plants.  Taxpayers and consumers should be concerned that these new, intrusive regulations would serve only to hinder the production of energy here in the United States and weaken an already vulnerable economy

The onslaught of regulations coming from the Obama Administration is unprecedented. The proposed EPA rule on greenhouse gas emissions, released today, will cause major damage to every sector of our economy. The US Chamber of Commerce warned last week about the potential damage to the economy the new proposal could do. According to The Daily Caller, “The Chamber found that the new EPA climate rule could cost the economy more than $50 billion per year and will dramatically reduce coal-fired power consumption. The report says that an additional 114 gigawatts of coal power could be shut down by 2030 — about 40 percent of existing coal capacity.”  The article went on to note that, “Moreover, this means huge job losses in the coming decades. The Chamber predicts that U.S. economy will average 224,000 fewer jobs between 2014 and 2030. Employment losses are expected to peak at 442,000 jobs in 2022.”

This announcement comes after bleak news about the U.S. economy.  According to USA Today, “In the first three months of 2014, the nation’s gross domestic product fell at a 1% annual rate, vs. the 0.1% increase first estimated, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Economists expected the report to show that the nation’s output declined about a half a percentage point compared with the fourth quarter.  The last time the economy contracted was in the first quarter of 2011.”

The Taxpayers Protection Alliance warned about the harmful impact of new regulations last month in an op-ed when we wrote, “President Obama has broken many promises during his first and second terms in office. But, in a sad twist of irony for taxpayers and energy production, the president is intent on keeping one of his 2008 campaign promises, to bankrupt coal plants and force electricity prices to “necessarily skyrocket.” After legislative attempts to pass cap-and-trade failed in the Democrat-controlled Congress in 2009, the president made clear that “cap-and-trade was just one way to skin the cat.” The other way: have unelected bureaucrats and attorneys at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulate coal out of business. The EPA has since taken measures to stop coal plant production by requiring new plants to use cost-prohibitive carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology – tech that is only affordable with large taxpayer subsidies. The only plant currently under construction with CCS will receive $400 million in grants and federal tax credits to offset the more than $1 billion price tag for what is unproven technology. That model is unsustainable.”

The President needs to focus his energy (no pun intended) on reducing the ever-growing regulatory apparatus of the federal government, which will in turn help grow the economy.  The only effect this new proposal will have is that businesses will leave the country, taking their money and jobs with them.