Regulating Growth Out of the EconomyCan We Get It Back?

Myron EbellPresident of Freedom Action andDirector, Center for Energy and Environment,Competitive Enterprise Institute(202) 331-2256; mebell@cei.org

The New Mexico Prosperity Project and the Rio Grande Foundation Albuquerque, New Mexico 5th April 2013

CEI background

Founded 1984 and located in Washington, DC $6 million annual budget Thirty staff Issue analysis, policy formation, advocacy, litigation Focus on regulatory issues: property rights, environmental,

energy, financial, information technology, labor, telecommunications, nanny state, international trade, UN environmental treaties, constitutional federalism

We fight to win.

Where is CEI coming from?

Non-profit, non-partisan public policy institute specializing in regulatory issues from a free market perspective.

CEI accepts no government funding and depends entirely on the generosity of private individuals, foundations, and corporations.

Freedom We support policies that advance the institutions of political and economic freedom.

Objectivity We believe that the scientific and economic facts must be scrupulously respected, regardless of our political preferences.

Life is a risk We reject the one-sided precautionary approach.

Comparing the resources of the two sides of the debate

Sierra Club Environmental Defense Fund Natural Resources Defense Council World Wildlife Fund National Wildlife Federation Center for Biological Diversity Wilderness Society Greenpeace Defenders of Wildlife Friends of the Earth

Total budget: $675 million

CEI —7 Heritage Foundation—3 Cato Institute—2 American Enterprise Institute—0 Institute for Energy Research—5 Nat’l. Center for Public Policy Research—2 Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow—3 Heartland Institute—3 ALEC—2 Other groups—fewer than 20

Total staff: fewer than 50!

Our economic problem illustrated

Close-Up of the Economic Growth Gap

Some possible causes of our continuing economic stagnation

Fiscal and Monetary 2008 Financial crash, mortgage

crisis, and house price decline Wall Street bailout The stimulus, record deficits, and

runaway federal spending Federal Reserve Policies: zero

interest rates and monetary expansion

High taxes Looming Entitlement Crisis

Regulatory

Environmental and energy regulations

Financial regulations

ObamaCare regulations

Annual Cost of Regulation: $1.8 trillionSource: Ten Thousand Commandments by Wayne Crews, CEI

Economic regulation, $373 Int'l trade, $7.8 Majors, untab, $15

Tax compliance, $300

Health, $185

DHS, $55

DOL, $122

DOT, $64

Environment, $353

FCC, $142

Financial, $102

All other, $87

Regulatory costs of $1.8 trillion per year

Now more than half as large as all federal spending of $3.54 trillion

11.6% of GDP of $15.5 trillion $14,768 per household or 23% of average

household income Increased rapidly in first Obama term Lots of new major regs in pipeline

“Affordable” Care Act

Raises health insurance costs for many people and for most small businesses

Discourages small businesses from hiring new employees

159 new regulations, programs, and offices Tax increases 2013-22 now estimated at $1.7

trillion

What can be done about Obamacare?

The House of Representatives can vote to de-fund key parts of it

States can resist implementing it (But Governor Martinez signed a bill last week

creating a state health insurance exchange) Constitutional challenges continue

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010

Over 400 new rules and regulations 224 rules have been written totalling 7365 pages But it does not solve Too Big To Fail In fact, it gives big Wall Street banks an

advantage over smaller banks

What can be done about Dodd-Frank?

CEI, State National Bank of Big Spring, Texas, 60 Plus Association, and the AGs of Oklahoma, South Carolina and Michigan have filed a constitutional challenge in federal court

AGs from Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Texas and West Virginia asked to join the suit in February

Energy and environmental regulations

When cap-and-trade was defeated in the Democratic Senate in 2010 and Republicans took control of the House in the 2010 election, President Obama said, “Cap-and-trade was just one way of skinning the cat.”

And so we have two energy paths

The energy-rationing path

1. Raise energy prices with new EPA and other regulations

2. Limit access to energy, particularly on federal lands and OCS

3. Mandate and subsidize more expensive forms of energy (e. g., wind, solar, ethanol)

The affordable energy path

1. Undo the regulatory onslaught

2. Drill, baby, drill

3. Drive the crony capitalists out of town

The choice before us:(President Reagan chopped wood for fun and exercise. The woman in Africa chops wood to cook her families’ meals.)

The perennial promise of renewable energy

2011 survey by House committee: EPA regulations hurt business most

EPA regulations

Global warming rules to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

CAFÉ Standards: 34.5 mpg by 2016; 54.5 mpg by 2025

NSPS for new power plants NSPS for existing power

plants NSPS for refineries More to come

Other EPA regs to raise energy prices

NAAQS for PM 2.5 Utility MACT Rule Regional Haze Rule Cross-State Air Pollution Rule Ozone (Smog) Rule Tier 3 Rule for sulfur in

gasoline Clean Water Act rules Ethanol mandate

Federal land management overlays for climate change

National Forest and BLM District 10-year management plans now include managing for climate change

NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) Environmental Impact Assessments for new projects must include climate change

March 2013, Department of Interior released National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy

22 Landscape Conservation Cooperatives assisted by 8 Climate Science Centers

Limiting access to energy and other natural resources: the federal land agencies

Will guide all federal land management planning

Intended to apply to state and county land management planning

Explicitly tied to Land Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs)

Landscape Conservation Cooperatives

OHN A. RICE, PH. D.Science Coordinator

Bureau of ReclamationSalt Lake City, UT

(801) 524-3685

KEVIN JOHNSONCoordinator

Fish Wildlife ServiceLakewood, CO(303) 236-4404

South Central Climate Science CenterDr. Kim Winton

Director, South Central Climate Science CenterU.S. Geological Surveykwinton@usgs.gov

Dr. Berrien Moore IIIPrincipal Investigator, South Central Climate Science CenterDean, College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences, The University of Oklahomaberrien@ou.edu

Dr. Renee A. McPhersonDirector of Research, South Central Climate Science CenterAssociate Professor of Geography and Environmental SustainabilityThe University of Oklahomarenee@ou.edu

Hosts & Research Partners/Host Institution and ConsortiumUniversity of OklahomaTexas Tech UniversityLouisiana State UniversityThe Chickasaw NationThe Choctaw Nation of OklahomaOklahoma State UniversityNOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory

The South Central Climate Science Center (SC CSC) is part of a network of eight CSCs created to provide scientific information, tools, and techniques that managers and other parties interested in land, water, wildlife and cultural resources can use to anticipate, monitor, and adapt to climate change.

What can we do about the energy/environment regulatory onslaught?

First, we must realize that global warming alarmism is not based on science

No global warming for 16 years

Temperature Data vs. Climate Models

The impacts of potential global warming are exaggerated or made up

Sea level rise: 8 inches in 20th century; IPCC estimates 14 inches in 21st

Arctic sea ice is melting; polar bears are threatened

Wacky weather

Affordable EnergyCongressional Vote Ratings112th Congress, 2011-12

New Mexico Senators

Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) 8%

Tom Udall (D-NM) 8%

New Mexico Representatives

Martin Heinrich(D-NM-1) 0%

Steve Pearce (R-NM-2) 100%

Ben Lujan (D-NM-3) 0%

Resources