In The News
The Journal Record: Inhofe opposes proposed EPA rule
Wednesday September 29, 2010
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, the top Republican on a Senate environmental panel, released a blistering report Tuesday targeting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new proposed rule on cleaning up boilers and proposed ozone levels.
The report said the rule would devastate America's manufacturing base and threaten hundreds of thousands of jobs nationwide without providing any real public health or environmental benefits.
In June, the EPA issued a proposal that would force industrial, commercial and institutional boilers and heaters to use maximum achievable control technology to reduce harmful emissions that erode air quality and pose a public health risk.
The proposed rule covers industrial boilers used in manufacturing, processing, mining and refining and commercial boilers used in malls, laundries, apartments, restaurants and hotels, according to the report.
The new standards for commercial and industrial boilers put 798,250 jobs at risk, the report said.
The Inhofe report also targets the EPA's proposal to reduce the national primary ozone standard to 60 parts per billion from 75 ppb. In a separate report, the American Petroleum Institute said it would devastate the economy by forcing most of the country to meet stringent standards that are imposed in its most heavily populated areas.
The report said the rule would devastate America's manufacturing base and threaten hundreds of thousands of jobs nationwide without providing any real public health or environmental benefits.
In June, the EPA issued a proposal that would force industrial, commercial and institutional boilers and heaters to use maximum achievable control technology to reduce harmful emissions that erode air quality and pose a public health risk.
The proposed rule covers industrial boilers used in manufacturing, processing, mining and refining and commercial boilers used in malls, laundries, apartments, restaurants and hotels, according to the report.
The new standards for commercial and industrial boilers put 798,250 jobs at risk, the report said.
The Inhofe report also targets the EPA's proposal to reduce the national primary ozone standard to 60 parts per billion from 75 ppb. In a separate report, the American Petroleum Institute said it would devastate the economy by forcing most of the country to meet stringent standards that are imposed in its most heavily populated areas.
WATCH: Senate Report Warns of Obama Job Killing Regulations
Tuesday September 28, 2010
Posted by Matt Dempsey Matt_Dempsey@epw.senate.gov
FOX NEWS: Senate Report Warns of Obama Job Killing Regulations
NYT: EPA: Republicans blitz Obama over anti-industrial regulations
Tuesday September 28, 2010
With the November midterm election nearing, Republicans in Congress are focusing their fire on U.S. EPA, describing the agency's regulations on greenhouse gases and air pollution as the product of a "job-killing" Obama administration.
Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe, the top Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, has put together a laundry list of grievances about the agency's regulatory agenda. His report, which will be released this afternoon, is the latest in a series of screeds from Inhofe, who previously investigated the "Climategate" controversy and issued a report accusing the Obama administration of bungling its response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
"Unfortunately, the Obama EPA favors bureaucracy and heavy-handed intervention more than jobs and growth," says a draft of the new report that was reviewed by Greenwire. "In many cases, outmoded provisions of the [Clean Air Act] are no longer tools to achieve clean air, but blunt instruments for EPA to enact anti-industrial policies."
Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe, the top Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, has put together a laundry list of grievances about the agency's regulatory agenda. His report, which will be released this afternoon, is the latest in a series of screeds from Inhofe, who previously investigated the "Climategate" controversy and issued a report accusing the Obama administration of bungling its response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
"Unfortunately, the Obama EPA favors bureaucracy and heavy-handed intervention more than jobs and growth," says a draft of the new report that was reviewed by Greenwire. "In many cases, outmoded provisions of the [Clean Air Act] are no longer tools to achieve clean air, but blunt instruments for EPA to enact anti-industrial policies."
LISTEN: Hot Air Exclusive: EPW Report Shows New EPA Rules Will Cost More Than 800,000 jobs
Tuesday September 28, 2010
Actually, it's not just the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee's minority contingent that fears the loss of nearly a million jobs from new EPA rules on greenhouse gases and other emissions issues. It's also groups like the United Steel Workers, Unions for Jobs and the Environment, and experts like King's College Professor Ragnar Lofstedt. Hot Air got an exclusive look at a report that the EPW minority staff will release later this morning detailing the economic damage that an activist EPA will do to the American economy, and which will come at perhaps the worst possible time, both economically and politically.
The executive summary spells out the stakes involved in the effort to rein in the EPA:
New standards for commercial and industrial boilers: up to 798,250 jobs at risk;
The revised National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone: severe restrictions on job creation and business expansion in hundreds of counties nationwide.
New standards for Portland Cement plants: up to 18 cement plants at risk of shutting down, threatening nearly 1,800 direct jobs and 9,000 indirect jobs;
The Endangerment Finding/Tailoring Rules for Greenhouse Gas Emissions: higher energy costs; jobs moving overseas; severe economic impacts on the poor, the elderly, minorities, and those on fixed incomes; 6.1 million sources subject to EPA control and regulation; and
In fact, the new regulations threaten to put entire industries out of business. The new standard for boilers, titled "National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Major Sources: Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Boilers and Process Heaters" and called the Boiler MACT, creates a standard that literally no producer in the US meets at the moment. The industry group Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA) represents end-user firms that employ 750,000 in various industries, and they concur:
The executive summary spells out the stakes involved in the effort to rein in the EPA:
New standards for commercial and industrial boilers: up to 798,250 jobs at risk;
The revised National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone: severe restrictions on job creation and business expansion in hundreds of counties nationwide.
New standards for Portland Cement plants: up to 18 cement plants at risk of shutting down, threatening nearly 1,800 direct jobs and 9,000 indirect jobs;
The Endangerment Finding/Tailoring Rules for Greenhouse Gas Emissions: higher energy costs; jobs moving overseas; severe economic impacts on the poor, the elderly, minorities, and those on fixed incomes; 6.1 million sources subject to EPA control and regulation; and
In fact, the new regulations threaten to put entire industries out of business. The new standard for boilers, titled "National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Major Sources: Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Boilers and Process Heaters" and called the Boiler MACT, creates a standard that literally no producer in the US meets at the moment. The industry group Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA) represents end-user firms that employ 750,000 in various industries, and they concur:
Inhofe on Hydraulic Fracturing: Why Limit A Safe, Effective Method?
Thursday September 23, 2010
Hydraulic fracturing, coupled with horizontal drilling, is the key production method which has not only aided in the production of oil and gas from more than one million oil and gas wells over the past nearly 60 years, but it continues to aid the production from thousands and wells every year. In fact, in deep and tight formations, production is dependent on horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing, or both. Recent reports point to reserves of natural gas of over 2,000 trillion cubic feet (Tcf). At today’s demand, that estimate alone is enough natural gas to meet demand for the next 100 years. Only 1 Tcf of natural gas can heat 15 million homes for a year or fuel 12 million natural gas powered vehicles for a year. What is significant is that much of the increase noted in the report comes from estimates of shale gas found in formations throughout the U.S. However, shale resources are largely only economically and technologically available due to hydraulic fracturing.
Importantly, natural gas production from shale has benefited local and state governments, royalty owners, and overall local economies substantially. For example, production in the Barnett Shale is responsible for over 110,000 jobs, $4.5 billion in royalty payments, and over $10 billion in increased economic activity in north Texas. The Haynesville Shale in Louisiana has created 33,000 jobs, $2.4 billion in business sales, $3.9 billion in salaries, and $3.2 billion in royalty payments. The Fayetteville Shale has drawn business and capital investment in the area of $22 billion, the creation of 11,000 jobs, and estimates of new state revenues of more than $2 billion by 2012. In Oklahoma, exploration for natural gas accounts for 80% of the state’s energy production, and one in seven jobs in Oklahoma is directly or indirectly supported by the crude oil and natural gas industry. Oil and gas accounts for 25% of all taxes paid in the state.
Importantly, natural gas production from shale has benefited local and state governments, royalty owners, and overall local economies substantially. For example, production in the Barnett Shale is responsible for over 110,000 jobs, $4.5 billion in royalty payments, and over $10 billion in increased economic activity in north Texas. The Haynesville Shale in Louisiana has created 33,000 jobs, $2.4 billion in business sales, $3.9 billion in salaries, and $3.2 billion in royalty payments. The Fayetteville Shale has drawn business and capital investment in the area of $22 billion, the creation of 11,000 jobs, and estimates of new state revenues of more than $2 billion by 2012. In Oklahoma, exploration for natural gas accounts for 80% of the state’s energy production, and one in seven jobs in Oklahoma is directly or indirectly supported by the crude oil and natural gas industry. Oil and gas accounts for 25% of all taxes paid in the state.
Inhofe: EPA rules threaten the economy
Thursday September 23, 2010
On Labor Day in Milwaukee, President Obama vowed to "keep fighting every single day, every single hour, every single minute, to turn this economy around and put people back to work and renew the American Dream." Stirring rhetoric, no doubt; but to the employees at Thilmany Papers, a company that employs 850 people in two specialty paper mills in Wisconsin, it means little.
That's because the Obama Environmental Protection Agency is threatening their livelihoods. The threat comes from EPA's proposal to regulate industrial boilers, the Boiler MACT rule. As with most EPA rules, the Boiler MACT (maximum achievable control technology standards) sounds arcane, and seems to be the remote province of federal technocrats. This is certainly true, but its impact will be pervasive and damaging. Here's what Thilmany had to say about it: "Our business, like many others, encounters many challenges. However, none threaten the continued existence of our business like this [proposed rule]."
The United Steelworkers (USW) union emphatically opposes the Boiler MACT proposal. As the USW sees it, the proposal "will be sufficient to imperil the operating status of many industrial plants." The USW represents hundreds of thousands of workers, "in the most heavily impacted industries, among them pulp & paper, steel, and rubber." In the union's view, "Tens of thousands of these jobs will be imperiled. In addition, many more tens of thousands of jobs in the supply chains and in the communities where these plants are located also will be at risk."
That's because the Obama Environmental Protection Agency is threatening their livelihoods. The threat comes from EPA's proposal to regulate industrial boilers, the Boiler MACT rule. As with most EPA rules, the Boiler MACT (maximum achievable control technology standards) sounds arcane, and seems to be the remote province of federal technocrats. This is certainly true, but its impact will be pervasive and damaging. Here's what Thilmany had to say about it: "Our business, like many others, encounters many challenges. However, none threaten the continued existence of our business like this [proposed rule]."
The United Steelworkers (USW) union emphatically opposes the Boiler MACT proposal. As the USW sees it, the proposal "will be sufficient to imperil the operating status of many industrial plants." The USW represents hundreds of thousands of workers, "in the most heavily impacted industries, among them pulp & paper, steel, and rubber." In the union's view, "Tens of thousands of these jobs will be imperiled. In addition, many more tens of thousands of jobs in the supply chains and in the communities where these plants are located also will be at risk."
E&E; News: Bennet seeks distance from cap and trade in Colo. Senate race
Thursday September 23, 2010
Colorado's freshman senator is trying to distance himself from cap and trade in the midst of a tough re-election fight.
Democrat Michael Bennet -- who is being challenged by tea party-backed Republican Ken Buck -- appeared to walk back his support for the House-passed climate bill at a Sept. 11 debate in Grand Junction, Colo. A video of the debate was posted today by the National Review.
A Sept. 15 Rasmussen Reports poll showed Bennet trailing Buck by 4 points.
"I just want to clear up one piece of the record," Bennet said. "A few minutes ago, Ken said, 'Well, why would you support cap and trade?' I didn't support the cap-and-trade bill that passed the House.
"And I do think it's an unproductive conversation to be fighting about cap and trade or carbon tax or cap and [dividend]. What we should be talking about is, how do we break our reliance on foreign oil, how do we create jobs in the United States, and how do we burn cleaner energy and conserve energy that we have?"
Democrat Michael Bennet -- who is being challenged by tea party-backed Republican Ken Buck -- appeared to walk back his support for the House-passed climate bill at a Sept. 11 debate in Grand Junction, Colo. A video of the debate was posted today by the National Review.
A Sept. 15 Rasmussen Reports poll showed Bennet trailing Buck by 4 points.
"I just want to clear up one piece of the record," Bennet said. "A few minutes ago, Ken said, 'Well, why would you support cap and trade?' I didn't support the cap-and-trade bill that passed the House.
"And I do think it's an unproductive conversation to be fighting about cap and trade or carbon tax or cap and [dividend]. What we should be talking about is, how do we break our reliance on foreign oil, how do we create jobs in the United States, and how do we burn cleaner energy and conserve energy that we have?"
Reuters: Bingaman: U.S. climate bill prospects dim
Wednesday September 22, 2010
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's dream of passing a big bill to battle global warming is likely dead for the rest of his term, according to a leading Democrat and long time backer of climate legislation.
"I don't see a comprehensive bill going anywhere in the next two years," Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman told the Reuters Washington Summit on Tuesday.
Bingaman's comments are the most frank to date from a Democratic senator on legislation that Obama has said was key to giving the United States a lead role in global efforts to fight climate change.
Republicans, who mostly oppose climate change legislation that mandates reductions in greenhouse gases, are expected to gain congressional seats in the November 2 elections.
"I'd be surprised if that kind of a comprehensive climate and energy bill could pass both houses of Congress in the next Congress, since they've been unable to pass in this Congress" with big Democratic majorities, Bingaman said.
"I don't see a comprehensive bill going anywhere in the next two years," Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman told the Reuters Washington Summit on Tuesday.
Bingaman's comments are the most frank to date from a Democratic senator on legislation that Obama has said was key to giving the United States a lead role in global efforts to fight climate change.
Republicans, who mostly oppose climate change legislation that mandates reductions in greenhouse gases, are expected to gain congressional seats in the November 2 elections.
"I'd be surprised if that kind of a comprehensive climate and energy bill could pass both houses of Congress in the next Congress, since they've been unable to pass in this Congress" with big Democratic majorities, Bingaman said.
E&E; News: Inhofe plans bipartisan bill tightening lead restrictions
Monday September 20, 2010
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) is expected to introduce a bipartisan bill this week to reduce lead in drinking water.
The measure would tighten the legal definition of "lead free" for pipes and fixtures from 8 percent to 0.25 percent lead in parts that touch water.
The bill represents one of the least controversial portions of a broad water infrastructure bill (H.R. 5320) the House passed in July. That bill would, among other things, reauthorize the state revolving fund for $5 billion over three years to pay for new water infrastructure (Greenwire, July 30).
The measure would tighten the legal definition of "lead free" for pipes and fixtures from 8 percent to 0.25 percent lead in parts that touch water.
The bill represents one of the least controversial portions of a broad water infrastructure bill (H.R. 5320) the House passed in July. That bill would, among other things, reauthorize the state revolving fund for $5 billion over three years to pay for new water infrastructure (Greenwire, July 30).
Another Inconvenient Astronaut: General Stafford
Monday September 20, 2010
This past weekend, I was pleased to be in Weatherford, Oklahoma, to celebrate the 80th birthday of a true American hero - retired United States Air Force Lieutenant General Thomas Patten Stafford.
As I said in a tribute on the Senate Floor, General Stafford "is a former National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronaut and the first United States general officer to travel into space, being one of only 24 people to fly to the Moon. A command pilot in both the Air Force and NASA, General Stafford gave a lifetime of service to the nation in space exploration, logging multiple flights into space to further our understanding and capabilities in space exploration. As one of the pioneers of our country's space program, General Stafford established protocols, procedures, and even a few records, that are still present in today's contemporary space programs and operations. He has been a national treasure and an unsung hero, willingly taking on the challenges associated with our innate fascination with what lay beyond our terrestrial home."
As I said in a tribute on the Senate Floor, General Stafford "is a former National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronaut and the first United States general officer to travel into space, being one of only 24 people to fly to the Moon. A command pilot in both the Air Force and NASA, General Stafford gave a lifetime of service to the nation in space exploration, logging multiple flights into space to further our understanding and capabilities in space exploration. As one of the pioneers of our country's space program, General Stafford established protocols, procedures, and even a few records, that are still present in today's contemporary space programs and operations. He has been a national treasure and an unsung hero, willingly taking on the challenges associated with our innate fascination with what lay beyond our terrestrial home."
