Commentary: Missouri, U.S. Needs Coal Industry, Electricity
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Daniel P. Mehan President/CEO, Missouri Chamber of Commerce
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Unbridled regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency are deteriorating our nation’s ability to generate energy. In response, the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed The Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation (TRAIN) Act, which would require the federal government to consider the true economic impact of its major environmental regulations—a process already mandated by existing law but routinely ignored by the current EPA. The U.S. Senate is now set to consider this act.
Unbalanced regulatory process has led to an unprecedented increase in major, economically significant regulations. Nowhere is this problem more pronounced than at EPA, which in the last three years has been prolific in imposing regulations that impact many U.S. industries, especially energy.
America is facing an assault on coal-fired electricity production.
Coal-fired power plants, and the thousands of people these plants employ, are at extreme risk. Also at risk are consumers who will ultimately pay the price in higher energy costs. This is especially dangerous for Missouri, a state that relies on coal for more than 80 percent of its electricity. The best course of action is to have proper oversight of these new regulations, which the TRAIN Act would provide, and allow Missouri coal operators and miners to procure coal for energy production within the state while continuing to provide these well-paying jobs for families.
Recent action by the EPA has called into serious question the transparency of the agency. On Aug. 11, the National Center for Public Policy Research detailed correspondence between Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Ark. and the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee (FERC). Detailed in this report is the troubling news that, contrary to prior claims, the EPA has not adequately conferred with FERC over the potential impact that these new regulations could have on the existing power grid of the United States. In other words, the EPA claimed that it took seriously the potential disaster that could be caused by depriving our power grid of the necessary natural resources to meet its current demands, but was later discovered that it did not.
This is not only damaging to the reputation of the EPA, but also extremely troubling in light of the potential that we could not provide the power that we need as a nation to function properly.
The U.S. Senate should seriously consider the negative impact onerous regulations have on Missouri’s economy, business and industry and approve the TRAIN Act to provide accountability and transparency in government.
Daniel P. Mehan is the president and CEO of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Source: (Nov. 4, 2011) News-Leader.com
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