Benefits of EPA Regulations Far Outweigh Costs, Industry Lies

November 23rd, 2010 by Zachary Shahan

We hear all the time that new environmental regulations will cause considerable job losses. This is a straight lie. We hear all the time that we can only protect the environment at the expense of the economy. This is a straight lie.

A recent article by Ruth Greenspan Bell, a Senior Fellow in the Climate & Energy Program at the World Resources Institute (WRI) who was an EPA lawyer for 17 years before that, covers a number of macro-scale and micro-scale studies on this matter and shows us why we need to be more careful regarding the environmental regulation cost-benefit assumptions we make.

Here are some of the key findings Bell discusses:

Research extensively shows that the economic, public health and jobs-related benefits of environmental regulations far outweigh their costs.
Initial regulation cost estimates are often greatly exaggerated by industry studies.
Initial regulation cost estimates are even exaggerated by the EPA most of the time (meaning the costs end up being lower in reality).
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently reported in its thirteenth annual Report to Congress that “estimated annual benefits of major Federal regulations reviewed by OMB from October 1, 1999, to September 30, 2009, for which agencies estimated and monetized both benefits and costs, are in the aggregate between $128 billion and $616 billion, while the estimated annual costs are in the aggregate between $43 billion and $55 billion.”
Furthermore, this report found that the estimated annual costs of clean air and water regulations range from $26 to $29 billion whereas their benefits range from $82 to $533 billion (quite a difference).

Bell gets into much more detail on why industry and EPA cost estimates are routinely too high, some micro-scale case studies showing the same findings, and why environmental regulation is not a job killer. Check out the full piece on the World Resources Institute website: For EPA Regulations, Cost Predictions Are Overstated.

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Photo Credit: savethedave via flickr (CC license)

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Tags: environmental regulation, environmental regulations, EPA, regulation, regulations, World Resources Institute, WRI

About the Author

Zachary Shahan spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as the director/chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media. You can connect with Zach on any popular social networking site you like. Links to all of his main social media profiles are on ZacharyShahan.com.