Juliette Balette

October 14, 2011

On Thursday, October 13, Republicansrevealed their new jobs bill, the "Jobs Through Growth Act."Senators John McCain and Rand Paul led the way on the proposed legislation, including in the bill a resolution proposed by Paul in the senate last month. Paul's Congressional Review Act, which would effectively veto the EPA's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, would have significant consequences for the nation and particularly for New England. While the Republican jobs bill is far from passing into law, it is cause for New England concern.

The CASPR, finalized by EPA in July of this year, requires twenty-seven states in the eastern half of the United States to reduce power plant emissions that contribute to ozone or fine particle pollution in other states. EPA predicts that this rule will have significant and immediate annual health benefits, like preventing up to 34,000 premature deaths, and improve air quality in thousands of counties. No New England states would be subject to this new rule, but the region would reap tangible benefits. New England lies downwind from Midwestern power plants and cross-state drift has long frustrated clean air efforts, diminished visibility, and degraded sensitive ecosystems. This rule could right these injustices, and, for some states, could mean finally coming into compliance with federal air quality standards.

Paul and his supporters argue against this rule because they see this and other environmental regulation as impeding job growth and economic recovery. However, while EPA predicts that some jobs will be lost, more are expected to be gained as companies comply with the new rule. Interestingly, a poll conducted by Hart Research Associates and GS Strategy Group found that although people are generally divided about the likely economic effects of EPA's new rule, sixty-seven percent of voters support the CSAPR.

At this point, it is unclear what final legislation of this bill would include. Fortunately, there are reasons for New Englanders to be positive. Greg Stimple, a Republican pollster and head of GS Strategy Group, has said that air pollution is a divisive issue for Republicans that should not be addressed in the current political climate. If Stimple is correct, we can expect that a final version of the Jobs Through Growth Act would not affect the CSAPR. Furthermore, given that an albeitmodest majority support rules like the CSAPR, future legislation may be less likely to include such a proposal or otherwise fail to gain support. The bottom line is that New England should keep a close watch on any proposal that dampens EPA's efforts at decreasing cross-state pollution.

Sources:

Basic Information, EPA.gov, http://www.epa.gov/airtransport/basic.html (last visited Oct. 14, 2011).

Clean Air Act Digest: Updates, U.S. Climate Action Network (Oct. 7, 2011),

http://blog.usclimatenetwork.org/clean-air-act-digest/clean-air-act-digest-10-7-11/.

Dave Gram, Vermont Environment Chief Hails New EPA Rule,Boston.com, (July 8, 2011), http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2011/07/08/vermont_environment_chief_hails_new_epa_rule/.

Envtl. Prot. Agency, Fact Sheet: The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule: Reducing the Interstate Transport of Fine Particlute Matter and Ozone (2011), available at http://www.epa.gov/airtransport/pdfs/CSAPRFactsheet.pdf.

Jean Chemnick, Poll Shows Voter Support For EPA Rules, Environment and Energy Daily (Oct. 13, 2011), http://www.eenews.net/EEDaily/2011/10/13/2.

Manuel Quinones & Jean Chemnick, New GOP Jobs Bill Has Energy Focus, Greenwire (Oct 13, 2011), http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/2011/10/13/1.

New EPA Rule on Cross-State Air Pollution Should Help Vermont, Vermontbiz.com (July 18, 2011), http://www.vermontbiz.com/news/july/new-epa-rule-cross-state-air-pollution-should-help-vermont.

Stop the EPA!,Before It's News (Oct. 11, 2011 3:25 PM), http://beforeitsnews.com/story/1217/484/Stop_the_EPA.html.