regulating growth out of the economy can we get it back? · 2016-05-20 · regulating growth out of...
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Regulating Growth Out of the EconomyCan We Get It Back?
Myron EbellPresident of Freedom Action andDirector, Center for Energy and Environment,Competitive Enterprise Institute(202) 331-2256; [email protected]
The New Mexico Prosperity Project and the Rio Grande Foundation Albuquerque, New Mexico 5th April 2013
CEI background
Founded 1984 and located in Washington, DC $6 million annual budget Thirty staff Issue analysis, policy formation, advocacy, litigation Focus on regulatory issues: property rights, environmental,
energy, financial, information technology, labor, telecommunications, nanny state, international trade, UN environmental treaties, constitutional federalism
We fight to win.
Where is CEI coming from?
Non-profit, non-partisan public policy institute specializing in regulatory issues from a free market perspective.
CEI accepts no government funding and depends entirely on the generosity of private individuals, foundations, and corporations.
Freedom We support policies that advance the institutions of political and economic freedom.
Objectivity We believe that the scientific and economic facts must be scrupulously respected, regardless of our political preferences.
Life is a risk We reject the one-sided precautionary approach.
Comparing the resources of the two sides of the debate
Sierra Club Environmental Defense Fund Natural Resources Defense Council World Wildlife Fund National Wildlife Federation Center for Biological Diversity Wilderness Society Greenpeace Defenders of Wildlife Friends of the Earth
Total budget: $675 million
CEI —7 Heritage Foundation—3 Cato Institute—2 American Enterprise Institute—0 Institute for Energy Research—5 Nat’l. Center for Public Policy Research—2 Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow—3 Heartland Institute—3 ALEC—2 Other groups—fewer than 20
Total staff: fewer than 50!
Our economic problem illustrated
Close-Up of the Economic Growth Gap
Some possible causes of our continuing economic stagnation
Fiscal and Monetary 2008 Financial crash, mortgage
crisis, and house price decline Wall Street bailout The stimulus, record deficits, and
runaway federal spending Federal Reserve Policies: zero
interest rates and monetary expansion
High taxes Looming Entitlement Crisis
Regulatory
Environmental and energy regulations
Financial regulations
ObamaCare regulations
Annual Cost of Regulation: $1.8 trillionSource: Ten Thousand Commandments by Wayne Crews, CEI
Economic regulation, $373 Int'l trade, $7.8 Majors, untab, $15
Tax compliance, $300
Health, $185
DHS, $55
DOL, $122
DOT, $64
Environment, $353
FCC, $142
Financial, $102
All other, $87
Regulatory costs of $1.8 trillion per year
Now more than half as large as all federal spending of $3.54 trillion
11.6% of GDP of $15.5 trillion $14,768 per household or 23% of average
household income Increased rapidly in first Obama term Lots of new major regs in pipeline
“Affordable” Care Act
Raises health insurance costs for many people and for most small businesses
Discourages small businesses from hiring new employees
159 new regulations, programs, and offices Tax increases 2013-22 now estimated at $1.7
trillion
What can be done about Obamacare?
The House of Representatives can vote to de-fund key parts of it
States can resist implementing it (But Governor Martinez signed a bill last week
creating a state health insurance exchange) Constitutional challenges continue
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010
Over 400 new rules and regulations 224 rules have been written totalling 7365 pages But it does not solve Too Big To Fail In fact, it gives big Wall Street banks an
advantage over smaller banks
What can be done about Dodd-Frank?
CEI, State National Bank of Big Spring, Texas, 60 Plus Association, and the AGs of Oklahoma, South Carolina and Michigan have filed a constitutional challenge in federal court
AGs from Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Texas and West Virginia asked to join the suit in February
Energy and environmental regulations
When cap-and-trade was defeated in the Democratic Senate in 2010 and Republicans took control of the House in the 2010 election, President Obama said, “Cap-and-trade was just one way of skinning the cat.”
And so we have two energy paths
The energy-rationing path
1. Raise energy prices with new EPA and other regulations
2. Limit access to energy, particularly on federal lands and OCS
3. Mandate and subsidize more expensive forms of energy (e. g., wind, solar, ethanol)
The affordable energy path
1. Undo the regulatory onslaught
2. Drill, baby, drill
3. Drive the crony capitalists out of town
The choice before us:(President Reagan chopped wood for fun and exercise. The woman in Africa chops wood to cook her families’ meals.)
The perennial promise of renewable energy
2011 survey by House committee: EPA regulations hurt business most
EPA regulations
Global warming rules to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
CAFÉ Standards: 34.5 mpg by 2016; 54.5 mpg by 2025
NSPS for new power plants NSPS for existing power
plants NSPS for refineries More to come
Other EPA regs to raise energy prices
NAAQS for PM 2.5 Utility MACT Rule Regional Haze Rule Cross-State Air Pollution Rule Ozone (Smog) Rule Tier 3 Rule for sulfur in
gasoline Clean Water Act rules Ethanol mandate
Federal land management overlays for climate change
National Forest and BLM District 10-year management plans now include managing for climate change
NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) Environmental Impact Assessments for new projects must include climate change
March 2013, Department of Interior released National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy
22 Landscape Conservation Cooperatives assisted by 8 Climate Science Centers
Limiting access to energy and other natural resources: the federal land agencies
Will guide all federal land management planning
Intended to apply to state and county land management planning
Explicitly tied to Land Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs)
Landscape Conservation Cooperatives
OHN A. RICE, PH. D.Science Coordinator
Bureau of ReclamationSalt Lake City, UT
(801) 524-3685
KEVIN JOHNSONCoordinator
Fish Wildlife ServiceLakewood, CO(303) 236-4404
South Central Climate Science CenterDr. Kim Winton
Director, South Central Climate Science CenterU.S. Geological [email protected]
Dr. Berrien Moore IIIPrincipal Investigator, South Central Climate Science CenterDean, College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences, The University of [email protected]
Dr. Renee A. McPhersonDirector of Research, South Central Climate Science CenterAssociate Professor of Geography and Environmental SustainabilityThe University of [email protected]
Hosts & Research Partners/Host Institution and ConsortiumUniversity of OklahomaTexas Tech UniversityLouisiana State UniversityThe Chickasaw NationThe Choctaw Nation of OklahomaOklahoma State UniversityNOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
The South Central Climate Science Center (SC CSC) is part of a network of eight CSCs created to provide scientific information, tools, and techniques that managers and other parties interested in land, water, wildlife and cultural resources can use to anticipate, monitor, and adapt to climate change.
What can we do about the energy/environment regulatory onslaught?
First, we must realize that global warming alarmism is not based on science
No global warming for 16 years
Temperature Data vs. Climate Models
The impacts of potential global warming are exaggerated or made up
Sea level rise: 8 inches in 20th century; IPCC estimates 14 inches in 21st
Arctic sea ice is melting; polar bears are threatened
Wacky weather
Affordable EnergyCongressional Vote Ratings112th Congress, 2011-12
New Mexico Senators
Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) 8%
Tom Udall (D-NM) 8%
New Mexico Representatives
Martin Heinrich(D-NM-1) 0%
Steve Pearce (R-NM-2) 100%
Ben Lujan (D-NM-3) 0%
Resources