Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce Business Journal Q3 2014 | Page 10

U.S. Senator
John Barrasso

The New Anti-Coal Rules Will Cut Jobs
and Hurt the Economy
By Senators John Barrasso (R-WY) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND)
In June, the Obama administration
unveiled new regulations to restrict
the amount of carbon dioxide
produced by existing power plants.
While we agree that America needs
to balance energy needs with
environmental concerns, the timing
of this effort could hardly be worse
for the struggling U.S. economy.
We recently learned that the
economy is shrinking for the first
time since 2011. America’s laborforce participation remains low.
Millions of Americans continue to
have difficulty finding good jobs.
These excessive new regulations
will likely force power plants to
close, putting Americans out of
work.
The administration repeatedly
promised to deliver regulatory
certainty and give states “flexibility”
if they meet the tough new
standards. The fact is that states
have to present their plans to the
Environmental Protection Agency
for final approval. If the EPA doesn’t
approve the state plan, the agency
could impose its requirements on
the state.
The 645-page rule would give
states a few options to reduce
emissions. Those options are still
very restrictive and will take away
good jobs, increase energy costs
and hurt the economy.

PG 10 l

Update

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy
said that the agency’s regulations
will decrease energy costs by 8%
by 2030. We remain skeptical and
believe that consumers will see
higher rates. Businesses, large
and small, and manufacturers will
have to pay much more for their
electricity; these increased prices
will be absorbed or passed on and
will further hurt the economy.
In states that already require
higher portions of renewable fuels,
electricity costs are on average
30% higher than in other states.
Recent studies have estimated that
this rule would lead to certain job
losses, with one study by the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce estimating
that an aggressive carbon policy
would eliminate hundreds of
thousands of jobs by forcing coalfired power plants to shut down.
This does not even begin to address
capacity and reliability issues that
the administration all too often
brushes aside.
Coal-fired
power
plants
will be especially hard hit,
disproportionately hurting coalproducing states like Wyoming,
North Dakota, Pennsylvania and
Montana.
When excessive Washington red
tape closes a power plant or a
coal mine in a small community,
those jobs aren’t the only ones to
go. The lost revenue base hurts

public schools, police and busing
services for seniors who can’t drive.
Teachers, laborers and doctors
move away, looking for a better
chance somewhere else. Small
businesses don’t have enough
customers, so they shut down—the
town withers away.
The pain is felt locally, but America’s
environmental policies must reflect
the fact that carbon dioxide is
produced globally. The U.S. share
of carbon-dioxide emissions has
been dropping for more than a
decade. Meanwhile, emissions in
developing countries have soared.
China’s have increased by 173%
from 1998 to 2011.
These new EPA policies will
produce minimal environmental
benefits unless other countries also
aggressively reduce emissions, to
the detriment of their economies.
That is unlikely in the near term.
While working together in the
Senate, we have consistently
supported policies that will help
the nation develop energy as
clean as it can, as fast as it can.
As representatives of energyproducing states, we have also
seen firsthand that the country

BANNER IMAGE- The United States Senate, A.D. 1850
Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850