In today's Wall Street Journal, the president lauds the American free market system, declaring it "the source of dazzling ideas and path-breaking products, it has also been the greatest force for prosperity the world has ever known."
Then he writes about government regulations:
From child labor laws to the Clean Air Act to our most recent strictures against hidden fees and penalties by credit card companies, we have, from time to time, embraced common sense rules of the road that strengthen our country without unduly interfering with the pursuit of progress and the growth of our economy.But last week, the US Environmental Protection Agency yanked a permit it had given to a West Virginia coal mine. Remember, the EPA is run by an Obama appointee, Lisa P. Jackson.
Sometimes, those rules have gotten out of balance, placing unreasonable burdens on business—burdens that have stifled innovation and have had a chilling effect on growth and jobs. At other times, we have failed to meet our basic responsibility to protect the public interest, leading to disastrous consequences. Such was the case in the run-up to the financial crisis from which we are still recovering. There, a lack of proper oversight and transparency nearly led to the collapse of the financial markets and a full-scale Depression.
Over the past two years, the goal of my administration has been to strike the right balance. And today, I am signing an executive order that makes clear that this is the operating principle of our government.
This order requires that federal agencies ensure that regulations protect our safety, health and environment while promoting economic growth. And it orders a government-wide review of the rules already on the books to remove outdated regulations that stifle job creation and make our economy less competitive. It's a review that will help bring order to regulations that have become a patchwork of overlapping rules, the result of tinkering by administrations and legislators of both parties and the influence of special interests in Washington over decades.
From yesterday's Washington Examiner:
Not content with backdooring the unequivocally unpopular cap-and-trade legislation through regulating carbon emissions, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has looked to further cripple American energy producers, manufacturers, and businesses by blanketing the industries in bureaucratic uncertainty. Last Thursday, the EPA revoked a permit it issued more than three years ago for the Spruce No. 1 Mine in Logan Country, West Virginia citing the Clean Water ActWhich Obama is it? The born again business enabler and red-tape cutter? Or is it the the heavy-handed busy-body and regulator. Obama produces soaring rhetoric, but his deeds always don't match it. And those deeds betray a man who is beholden to the far-left.
Mingo Logan, a subsidiary of Arch Coal, obtained the permit in 2007 after a decade of review and costly analysis determined the project to be in accordance with the CWA. Since obtaining the permit in ‘07, Mingo Logan invested $250 million in the project and hired 250 workers to begin construction and mining. The EPA ruling has brought the Spruce Mine to a standstill and will in all likelihood scuttle the project and the workers it employed.
Employers are taking notice. Businesses, manufacturers, public works agencies, and energy producers are wondering if they could be the EPA's next target. The threat of legal fees and rescinded building permits is enough to keep businesses on the sidelines deterring investment until the fog clears.
Echoing this sentiment, West Virginia's newly elected Senator Joe Manchin, said that the "EPA decision is not just fundamentally wrong, it is an unprecedented act by the federal government that will cost our state and our nation even more jobs during the worst recession in this country's history."
That's something to remember when you are paying $4 for a gallon of gasoline this summer.
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