CHARLESTON, W.Va – The West Virginia Manufacturers Association voiced significant concern recently regarding the proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations on ozone emissions and how it will affect the Mountain State’s industries.
At a news conference Oct. 2, Joe Eddy of Eagle Manufacturing outlined how the state could stand to lose thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in business.
The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) recently released a new study by NERA Economic Consulting revealing that the new EPA regulations would cost the nation up to $270 Billion per year. It would quite literally be the most expensive regulation ever imposed on the American public.
“West Virginia is just getting back on its feet after the recession,” explained Eddy. “We are already looking at cataclysmic issues surrounding carbon emissions being imposed by the EPA and now it looks like they are determined to directly hit whatever business is left in the state.”
New ozone regulations could cost West Virginia hundreds of millions of dollars to reduce emissions to federally required levels. The EPA has identified only 26 percent of the controls needed to meet the standard. The remaining 74 percent of reductions would have to be met with unknown controls that the EPA has not yet identified but which would likely have to include early shutdowns and scrappage of existing facilities, equipment and vehicles.
“We have businesses from around the world, and right here at home, investing billions of dollars in energy and manufacturing,” said Eddy.
“Manufacturers are going to take a hit, coal-fired power plants will shut down, and natural gas production will suffer. How much more can West Virginia take?”
Some of the other highlights from the NAM Study:
— $21 Billion Gross State Product Loss from 2017 to 2040
— 14,276 Lost Jobs or Job Equivalents per Year
— $658 Million in Total Compliance Costs
— Up to a 15 Percent Increase in Residential Electricity Prices (National Average)
— Up to a 32 Percent Increase in Residential Natural Gas Prices (National Average)
— Shutdown of 60 Percent of West Virginia’s Coal-Fired Generating Capacity
