U.S. EPA is Good for the Economy!
WASHINGTON – At an event today, in Austin, Texas, at a certified electronics recycling center, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, General Services Administrator Martha N. Johnson, and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley were joined by the CEOs of Dell Inc. and Sprint, and senior executives from Sony Electronics to release the Obama Administration’s “National Strategy for Electronics Stewardship” – a strategy for the responsible electronic design, purchasing, management and recycling that will promote the burgeoning electronics recycling market and jobs of the future here at home. The announcement today includes the first voluntary commitments made by Dell, Sprint and Sony to EPA’s industry partnership aimed at promoting environmentally sound management of used electronics. The Administration’s strategy also commits the federal government to take specific actions that will encourage the more environmentally friendly design of electronic products, promote recycling of used or discarded electronics, and advance a domestic market for electronics recycling that will protect public health and create jobs.
WASHINGTON, DC – President Obama today announced a historic agreement with thirteen major automakers to pursue the next phase in the Administration’s national vehicle program, increasing fuel economy to 54.5 miles per gallon for cars and light-duty trucks by Model Year 2025. The President was joined by Ford, GM, Chrysler, BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar/Land Rover, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota and Volvo – which together account for over 90 percent of all vehicles sold in the United States – as well as the United Auto Workers (UAW), and the State of California, who were integral to developing this agreement.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today proposed standards to reduce harmful air pollution from oil and gas drilling operations. These proposed updated standards – which are being issued in response to a court order – would rely on cost-effective existing technologies to reduce emissions that contribute to smog pollution and can cause cancer while supporting the administration’s priority of continuing to expand safe and responsible domestic oil and gas production. The standards would leverage operators’ ability to capture and sell natural gas that currently escapes into the air, resulting in more efficient operations while reducing harmful emissions that can impact air quality in surrounding areas and nearby states.
Published: Friday, April 09, 2010, 9:02 PM Updated: Friday, April 09, 2010, 9:13 PM By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune
Increased regulation of water and air pollutants could spur the creation of new industries aimed at reducing them, and thus boost the economy and job creation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson said in New Orleans on Friday.
"Smart environmental protection can actually drive innovation," Jackson told the crowd at the 15th annual Tulane Law School Summit on Environmental Law & Policy. "The fact that we insist on clean water creates a market.
Today Rep. Henry A. Waxman, Ranking Member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Bobby L. Rush, Ranking Member of the Energy and Power Subcommittee, released a letter and white paper from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the economic benefits of implementing the Clean Air Act. The EPA found that implementing the Clean Air Act’s public health protections “creates American jobs and bolsters the global competitiveness of American industry, even as it lowers healthcare costs and protects American families from birth defects, illnesses, and premature death.”
The February 8, 2011, Letter from EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and the Clean Air Act White Paper are available by clicking on the above links.
The environment is not an issue of the Democratic Party alone, but enjoys broad bi-partisan support.
- We are Republicans. We share a deep concern for the environment.
- We know that a healthy environment and a sound economy are both essential to our nation’s prosperity.
- We believe that by working together, we can preserve both our environment and our economy for current and future generations of Americans.
We Want:
- Clean air and water
- Food free from harmful chemicals
- Clean, efficient businesses & industries
- A high quality of life in our cities & rural communities
- Strong, results-oriented enforcement of environmental laws
- Economic development for communities without the ravages of sprawl
- High priority for funding of natural resource stewardship & environmental protection
- Protection for posterity of our national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, wild lands & waters
- Effective legal protection for threatened & endangered plants & animals in their native habitats
Market-Based Environmental Policies
Unfettered markets originating in the Industrial Revolution and continuing through modern times have been responsible for a wide array of environmental problems that impose numerous direct and indirect health and economic costs upon citizens. Pollution, resource depletion and other costly environmental damage have occurred as a result of expediency, subsidies, information gaps, and other distortions that cause market failures. Carefully designed public policies can correct such failures, enabling markets to work more effectively and delivering tangible gains in environmental quality at the lowest practical cost. (See http://www.rep.org/policy/market-based.html)
John R.E. Bliese, Ph.D.
“We can’t afford any more environmental protection, because it will hurt the economy.” Renowned economist Dr. John R. E. Bliese, in a published article posted at the “Republicans for Environmental Protection” website says that: “How many times have you heard that line? Probably every time any new standards were proposed to clean up our air or water and protect our health. And every time we try to preserve some rare plant or animal we have pushed to the brink of extinction, it’s “owls (or whatever) versus jobs.
These arguments are the most common ones we face in trying to protect the earth. Politicians spout them freely, and so do business groups and radio talk show entertainers. There is only one problem with these assertions: They are simply not true!
There have been dozens of well-designed studies by economists who have tested these claims, and the results are clear: environmental protection normally has no negative impact on the economy overall, and sometimes it has a positive effect.”
Taken from the work of John R.E. Bliese, Ph.D.,
See http://www.csub.edu/~dgermano/Bleise.pdf
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