Obama's red tape and a close look at Utility MACT

Despite forceful denials from the White House, the amount of regulations has skyrocketed since President Obama was sworn into office--if you want proof, take a look at the chart in this Wall Street Journal article about President Obama's costly red tape.

Here's one persistent piece of tape: Utility Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT). It's aims are laudable--to control mercury emissions. But Travis Kavulla, in the December 19 edition of National Review, calls Utility MACT "overzealous."

Speaking of NR, in National Review Online, Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, penned a piece slamming burdensome regulations and Utility MACT.

In the next few days, President Obama's Environmental Protection Agency is expected to issue another final regulation directed at electricity utilities. This rule, known as the Utility MACT, will impose an estimated $11 billion each year in new costs on our economy. It will threaten electricity-generating capacity in many parts of the country. And it’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this administration’s runaway rulemaking.

I'm often asked when I’m home in Michigan why the House of Representatives has been so active this year passing legislation related to environment and energy rules.

The answer is simple. The Obama administration forced our hand with a regulatory approach that threatens to destroy jobs and drive up costs for families.

Never before have we seen a regulatory agenda as broad and as costly. Compounding the pain, the Obama administration unleashed its aggressive regulatory agenda on an economy that was already the weakest in decades.

And I feel compelled to ask once again, "Where are the jobs?"
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