Several energy industry groups are pressuring the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make sure they’re “actively included” in the crafting of carbon emissions standards for power plants, according to The Hill.
Groups representing manufacturing, coal, power, refining, railroads, agribusiness and others sent a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy in which they stated that it is “critical” that carbon regulations be “set at achievable levels,” taking into account “potential impacts to to the economy and jobs.”
When President Obama announced his National Climate Action Plan in June, his plan included what industry members feared: steps to limit pollution from both new and existing power plants. His directive to the EPA to impose the first-ever carbon dioxide emissions standards drew criticism from the industry even before the president formally announced his intentions.
Industry criticism typically includes the excuses that jobs and businesses will suffer if Americans cut carbon pollution, change the way we use energy, or switch to cleaner, renewable energy.
Those same, tired excuses are present in the industry’s recent letter to the EPA, in phrases like “achievable levels,” and “economically viable technologies.”
As representatives of companies that will have to comply with new carbon emissions standards, the letter states, “We are uniquely situated to provide useful input to the Agency as to what is ‘economically achievable’ from available technologies.”
Here is a full list of groups that signed the letter, along with the amount of money each spent on lobbying last year:
American Chemistry Council – Total: $9,070,000
American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity – Total: $1,720,000
American Farm Bureau Federation – Total: $5,694.421
American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers – Total: $251,501
American Iron & Steel Institute – Total: $94,000
Association of American Railroads – Total: $10,252,790
Electric Reliability Coordinating Council – Total: $1,290,000
Industrial Energy Consumers of America – Total: $470,000
National Association of Manufacturers – Total: $9,170,000
National Mining Association – Total: $4,806,159
Portland Cement Association – Total: $105,125
The Fertilizer Institute – Total: $1,234,720
U.S. Chamber of Commerce – Total: $136,300,000
Alisha is a writer and researcher with Ring of Fire. Follow her on Twitter @childoftheearth.