A new Obama administration regulation–the so-called Stream Protection Rule–is about to drive up energy costs and unemployment with no gain in environmental benefits, cautions the National Mining Association.
“The primary motive of this regulation is not to protect streams, as its title would suggest, but to protect federal regulators' jobs at the expense of coal miners' jobs as the nation's energy providers,” said Luke Popovich, vice president of communications for the National Mining Association.
In a classic example of needless regulation, the U.S. Office of Surface Mining, or OSM, plans to change more than 475 regulations, as well as add more new rules – despite no demonstrated need. OSM has crafted the rule behind closed doors, Popovich said, shutting cooperating states out of discussions about the purpose and content of the regulation.
The new rule carries a heavy economic price tag, Popovich warned. He pointed to an analysis by an independent consultant that found that OSM’s rule would put more than 268,000 mining and dependent jobs at risk—adding to the 40,000 high-wage jobs already lost in the industry.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7221731-national-mining-association-americans-electricity-bill-increase-due-to-epa-regulations/
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