U.S. Chamber Launches Final Offensive Against EPA Proposal to Regulate Greenhouse Gases

Submits Comments on Devastating Impact on Fragile Economy

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Chamber of Commerce today highlighted the devastating impact the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposal to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act would have on businesses, farmers, the fragile economy, and job creation.

"The EPA proposal is a huge threat to our economy and is government policy at its worst," said William Kovacs, the U.S. Chamber's vice president of Environment, Technology & Regulatory Affairs. "Rep. John Dingell called it a 'glorious mess,' and he was being generous."

EPA is taking public comments through November 28, 2008, on its Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) on greenhouse gas regulation, through which EPA sets forth the multitude of costly, burdensome CAA programs it would use to regulate virtually all sectors of business. "It's not just large industrial manufacturers that would bear the burden of this plan," said Kovacs, "but also churches, office buildings, schools, hospitals, and thousands of small businesses that are already experiencing the stresses of a weak economy."

"The compliance costs of EPA regulation of CO2 would be financially and administratively unreasonable for millions of new regulated entities," continued Kovacs. "Construction in the U.S. could stop, millions of greenhouse gas-related citizen suits could arise, and strict technology and offset requirements could mean a permanent scaling-down of industry in the U.S. Businesses forced to limit their emissions in the U.S. will simply move to other nations which have much less substantial environmental standards than the United States, and will continue to emit. Regulation under the Act would therefore result in economic chaos with little, if any, actual benefit to the environment."

The Chamber is advocating that EPA deny the petition to regulate motor vehicles remanded by Massachusetts v. EPA on the grounds that the regulatory cascade and economic hardship caused by an endangerment finding is a reasonable explanation as to why it cannot or will not exercise its discretion to determine whether endangerment exists. "In this vulnerable economy, the last thing we need is to place more permits, capital costs for new technologies, paperwork requirements, and large fees onto businesses," said Kovacs. "EPA regulation of CO2 under the Act would be the straw that breaks the camel's back, killing job growth and prolonging our economic recovery."

The U.S. Chamber is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

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