API letter warns EPA about “unreasonable” regulations
The American Petroleum Institute is warning the EPA about the broad economic impacts that their “unreasonable regulations” are having on American business. It’s good to have the company, because this warning mirrors warnings that have been coming from the coal industry for years.
The US Environmental Protection Agency needs to consider that overly burdensome regulations reduce investments by US businesses and cost jobs, an American Petroleum Institute spokesman said June 1, adding the EPA has not gone far enough to ease such regulations.
API particularly is concerned about EPA implementing greenhouse gas regulations and ozone rules, Howard Feldman, API director of regulatory and scientific affairs, said during a June 1 conference call with reporters.
While acknowledging EPA took steps to reduce some regulations, API still believes US President Barack Obama’s administration needs to do more to help the recovering economy, Feldman said.
“People need jobs, and in order to provide those jobs, American businesses need to be assured that the rules they must comply with are predictable and reasonable,” he said.
Regulations don’t exist in a vacuum and regulators cannot simply ignore the social and economic implications of their actions. The EPA can’t expect to put regulations in place that demand environmental conditions equivalent to or better than the most pristine of natural levels and not expect it to have any economic or social impacts.
As we’ve noted throughout our publications, sustainability requires more than just some imaginary conception of a perfect natural environment. True sustainability must also take into account social and economic considerations.