Romney launches all-out assault on green jobs

Mitt Romney has today launched his most outspoken attack to date on the Obama administration's environmental and energy policies, releasing a new energy strategy that would slash reams of landmark environmental regulations and end support for green jobs.

The brief nine page strategy document, which makes no mention of climate change, vows to increase domestic oil, gas and coal production to a level where North America is energy independent, and launches an all-out attack on President Obama's energy policy, accusing it of having an "unhealthy 'green' jobs obsession".

"In thrall to the environmentalist lobby and its dogmas, the President and the regulatory bodies under his control have taken measures to limit energy exploration and restrict development in ways that sap economic performance, curtail growth, and kill jobs," the strategy states.

"As the Obama administration wages war against oil and coal, it has been spending billions of dollars on alternative energy forms and touting its creation of 'green' jobs. But it seems to be operating more on faith than on fact-based economic calculation. The 'green' technologies are typically far too expensive to compete in the marketplace, and studies have shown that for every 'green' job created there are actually more jobs destroyed. Unsurprisingly, this costly government investment has failed to create an economic boom."

Accusing Obama of displaying a "blithe disregard for the economic impact of his policies", the Romney plan vows to overhaul energy policy in a manner that would "make every effort to safeguard the environment", at the same time as remaining "mindful at every step of also protecting the jobs of American workers".

Most significantly, Romney has vowed to amend the Clean Air Act to effectively repeal the court ruling that allows the law to be used to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

The so-called "endangerment finding", which in 2009 ruled that greenhouse gas emissions pose a threat to public health and can be regulated under the Clean Air Act, underpins both the Obama administration's new auto efficiency standards and EPA rules governing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

With the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) blocked from using the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions the US would be left with no meaningful federal mechanism for tackling carbon emissions.

In addition, the strategy vows to deliver a huge increase in domestic fossil fuel production and nuclear reactor development through a drastically streamlined approach to permitting and licensing.

Moreover, the Romney plan promises to "open America's energy reserves for development" by giving states more power to approve fossil fuel extraction, support the development of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline between Canada and Texas, and "prevent overregulation of shale gas development and extraction".

The document makes just one mention of "renewable energy", citing British analyst firm Verso Economics and Spanish University Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, in a quote that states "while President Obama has repeatedly touted a 'green' economy as a key to job creation, the reality is that investment in renewable energy does not create jobs. To the contrary, an increase in 'green' jobs produces a much larger decrease in other jobs".

No reference is provided for the specific reports that contain the quote or led to the conclusion.

However, they appear to relate to studies that have been widely questioned by the renewables industry and green campaigners, who raised a series of concerns about the methodologies used.

Most notably, the Verso report, which in fact relates only to Scotland and the UK, has been criticised by pro-wind energy campaigners for calculating that the UK renewables industry employs 2,700 people when industry surveys suggest the wind and marine industries alone employed over 10,000 people last year.

However, the Romney energy plan will further fuel fears that if elected he will slash support for clean energy and follow through on recent pledges to retain oil and gas industry tax breaks, while ending tax credits for renewable energy projects.

Source: http://feeds.businessgreen.com/c/554/f/7118/s/22a9aad9/l/0L0Sbusinessgreen0N0Cbg0Cnews0C220A0A660A0Cromney0Elaunches0Eallout0Eassault0Eon0Egreen0Ejobs0DWT0Brss0If0FHome0GWT0Brss0Ia0FRomney0Klaunches0Kall0Eout0Kassault0Kon0Kgreen0Kjobs/story01.htm

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