How Many Jobs Will the Obama Administration's Ozone Rule Kill in Your State?

Submitted by Editor on Wed, 2010-10-13 13:59

October 12, 2010--Republican Policy Committee

Today, the national unemployment rate stands at a painful 9.6 percent. Unfortunately, reports indicate that the Obama administration, through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will soon finalize a new job-killing environmental regulation. Earlier this year, the EPA proposed lowering the limit from the current 75 parts per billion (ppb) standard to 60 ppb. Currently, as many as 675 counties across the U.S. would violate the proposed standard—triggering job-killing mandates, new costs, new permitting requirements, and financial penalties for operations in those areas.

The economic impact of such an arbitrary federal rule would be dramatic and amount to a backdoor national energy tax promulgated by the EPA. According to a National Association of Manufacturers study, the proposed 60 ppb ozone standard would lead to a total of $1 trillion in annual compliance costs and 7.3 million jobs lost. The chart below indicates how the states would fare if the EPA’s job-killing regulation gets implemented:

*State*	*Current Unemployment Rate*	*Current Number of Unemployed Job-Seekers*	*New Jobs Lost to Ozone Rule*	*Total State Energy Tax (Cost and GDP Reduction)*
*Alabama*	9.2 percent	192,825	75,918	$14.7 Billion
*Alaska*	7.7 percent	28,000	87,794	$22.1 Billion
*Arizona*	9.7 percent	309,020	22,396	$1 Billion
*Arkansas*	7.5 percent	100,966	44,369	$7.5 Billion
*California*	12.4 percent	2,261,451	846,108	$210.3 Billion
*Colorado*	8.2 percent	216,509	47,309	$8.5 Billion
*Connecticut*	9.1 percent	171,387	37,026	$3.7 Billion
*Delaware*	8.4 percent	35,296	(1,047)	($3.5 Billion)
*Florida*	11.7 percent	1,083,718	47,769	$5.8 Billion
*Georgia*	10 percent	466,930	59,621	$8 Billion
*Hawaii*	6.4 percent	40,922	38,229	$8.1 Billion
*Idaho*	8.9 percent	67,292	(52)	($3.3 Billion)
*Illinois*	10.1 percent	671,411	396,332	$98.1 Billion
*Indiana*	10.2 percent	317,720	223,399	$51.3 Billion
*Iowa*	6.8 percent	114,243	35,939	$3.5 Billion
*Kansas*	6.6 percent	97,898	121,711	$29.2 Billion
*Kentucky*	10 percent	205,938	109,443	$24.2 Billion
*Louisiana*	7.6 percent	158,914	983,833	$269.7 Billion
*Maine*	8 percent	55,439	407	($3.2 Billion)
*Maryland*	7.3 percent	216,591	15,606	($0.3 Billion)
*Massachusetts*	8.8 percent	304,439	46,338	$5.5 Billion
*Michigan*	13.1 percent	634,420	122,108	$23 Billion
*Minnesota*	7 percent	207,476	166,596	$39.7 Billion
*Mississippi*	10 percent	207,476	129,976	$32.2 Billion
*Missouri*	9.3 percent	275,540	42,014	$4.7 Billion
*Montana*	7.4 percent	36,758	51,387	$11.8 Billion
*Nebraska*	4.6 percent	45,262	7,253	($1.9 Billion)
*Nevada*	14.4 percent	1,157,061	2,263	($2.7 Billion)
*New Hampshire*	5.7 percent	42,290	2,011	($2.9 Billion)
*New Jersey*	9.6 percent	434,571	72,757	$11.7 Billion
*New Mexico*	8.3 percent	78,776	40,065	$8 Billion
*New York*	8.3 percent	801,441	100,129	$15.7 Billion
*North Carolina*	9.7 percent	437,633	113,950	$18.3 Billion
*North Dakota*	3.7 percent	13,614	13,892	$1 Billion
*Ohio*	10.1 percent	601,326	296,952	$69.2 Billion
*Oklahoma*	7 percent	122,483	177,003	$45.2 Billion
*Oregon*	10.6 percent	208,696	39,121	$4.1 Billion
*Pennsylvania*	9.2 percent	584,897	351,207	$85.8 Billion
*Rhode Island*	11.8 percent	67,465	(916)	($3.5 Billion)
*South Carolina*	11 percent	236,649	31,242	$2.6 Billion
*South Dakota*	4.5 percent	19,799	(2,661)	($3.8 Billion)
*Tennessee*	9.6 percent	291,305	108,953	$22.4 Billion
*Texas*	8.3 percent	1,004,388	1,690,205	$452.2 Billion
*Utah*	7.4 percent	100,496	60,860	$12.8 Billion
*Vermont*	6 percent	21,298	(3,656)	($4 Billion)
*Virginia*	7 percent	289,865	66,058	$11.2 Billion
*Washington*	8.9 percent	315,791	234,055	$59 Billion
*West Virginia*	8.8 percent	68,242	8,639	($1.1 Billion)
*Wisconsin*	7.9 percent	239,146	78,647	$12.6 Billion
*Wyoming*	6.8 percent	19,817	46,451	$10.4 Billion

The EPA’s proposed ozone rule would discourage new businesses from locating to many areas of the U.S. and would restrict the growth of existing businesses. The Obama administration’s proposed backdoor national energy would kill jobs and raise costs at a time when the U.S. economy can least afford it—and it ought to be opposed.