ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY HEADLINESEnvironment and Sustainability
AISI CEO Comments on GHG Regulation
May 17, 2010 American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) President and CEO Thomas J. Gibson believes that the Tailoring Rule issued by the Environmental Protection Agency does not solve the fundamental problems associated with regulating greenhouse gases (GHGs) under the Clean Air Act.
“Failure to address the global dimension of the climate change issue will place U.S. manufacturers at a significant competitive disadvantage, costing valuable American jobs and actually increasing greenhouse gas emissions,” Gibson said.
“Despite the proposed ‘tailoring’ of the statutory requirements, EPA’s proposed regulation of stationary sources will discourage new investment and impose significant new costs on manufacturing industries at the worst possible time—just as the economy is in the early stages of what is likely to be a long, slow recovery from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression,” he continued.
Gibson believes that this latest EPA regulation “arbitrarily pick winners and losers in terms of which facilities must comply immediately with the new permitting requirements. In the end, however, no business will be left untouched from EPA’s expansive interpretation of the Clean Air Act.
“Equally importantly, nothing in this rule will prevent the leakage of jobs and emissions to unregulated countries like China, especially from energy-intensive, trade-exposed industries like steel. It is past time for Congress to step in and stop EPA from pursuing this job-killing regulatory approach,” Gibson concluded.
AISI serves as the voice of the North American steel industry in the public policy arena and advances the case for steel in the marketplace as the preferred material of choice. The Institute also plays a lead role in the development and application of new steels and steelmaking technology. It comprises 25 member companies, including integrated and electric furnace steelmakers, and 138 associate and affiliate members who are suppliers to or customers of the steel industry.