Environmental Law Matters

EPA's new rules for limiting emissions of carbon dioxide for both existing power plants and proposed plants have prompted at least two substantive reports by public policy institutes focusing on the economic aspects of the proposals. The Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University and The Heritage Foundation have recently published reports that estimate the potential costs, particularly in terms of jobs, associated with the adoption of these regulations. These reports can be viewed here (Beacon Hill) and (Heritage Foundation). The Heritage Foundation report has apparently generated the greatest interest due to its effort to detail the number of jobs that the regulations may cost each state. Thus, a recent article on www.al.com covering several Alabama news sources, noted that the regulations may cost Alabama as many as 10,700 jobs or about 4.14% of the State's manufacturing employment. (Wake Up Call al.com 2/20/15 ). Overall, the Heritage Foundation estimates that over a half million manufacturing jobs will be lost nationwide Although the very issue of climate change continues to have prominent deniers, the arguments put forth by those who oppose climate change regulations seem to be edging away from absolute denial of the science supporting the fact of any change in the earth's average temperature and towards the potential economic and social impacts of the issue. Until fairly recently, there has been a vocal group of individuals with scientific credentials who openly rejected the scientific basis for the position that the world's climate is warming. As scientists have moved to a general consensus that the problem is real, the argument has generally moved from outright denial that the earth's temperatures are rising to one that questions the cause. Many who originally denied that there was any climate change now acknowledge that temperatures are increasing, but argue that the cause is primarily the result of a natural climate cycle and not the result of human activity such as through the combustion of coal. Even that debate tends to be between scientists and senior policy-makers. These recent studies may indicate a further shift towards more practical aspects of climate change issues: the impacts of the various regulatory proposals the situation has prompted. Regardless of whether the estimates of costs, particularly in jobs, are valid, the fear of the loss of jobs in significant numbers seems much more likely to raise concerns on the part of the general public than has a debate between scientists.