Nationally syndicated columnist Deroy Murdock writes, "Federal regulators are keeping America from moving forward." Right.
In his latest piece, "Over-Regulation Is Pricey," Murdock argues that over-regulation has cost the United States nearly a million jobs.
Federal regulators are keeping America from moving forward. From recent news stories, my colleagues at Engage America have calculated that federal red tape has squelched at least 779,203 potential jobs. If these positions were filled, today’s unemployment rate would fall from 8.2 percent to 7.7.
While some of what regulators do is vital (such as preventing Americans from being poisoned by tap water or detonated by faulty automobile gas tanks), far more is costly, duplicative, or downright destructive.
Murdock draws on the Competitive Enterprise Institute's annual report, "Ten Thousand Commandments 2012: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State."
Elsewhere in the world of overregulation...
From Business Day, "Government regulation may undermine global gas output expansion - Mobil"
Exxon Mobil Corp, the world's largest publicly listed energy company, warned on Tuesday that too much government regulation could undermine a rapid global expansion of gas output from a range of unconventional sources....
Exxon Mobil Chief Executive Rex Tillerson said governments had to ensure the right environment for future investments in gas projects.
"Regulations should provide a clear, efficient roadmap for how to get things done, not a complex tangle of rules that are used to stop things from getting done," Tillerson told the World Gas Conference in the Malaysian capital," he said. "If government puts the development of these new sources of energy at a standstill, they will find their economies walking backwards."
More at Bloomberg, "Exxon, Shell See U.S.-Led Gas Boom Boosting Global Growth," which notes the United States has surpassed Russia as the world's largest natural gas producer. Thank you, hydrofracking!
AOL Energy, "Natural Gas Industry Challenges EPA Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data":
Two major industry groups said today that EPA needs to lower its methane emissions estimates, which are 50% higher than indicated by a new survey of hydraulic fracturing emissions. The American Petroleum Institute and America's Natural Gas Alliance released what they call the "most comprehensive study to date."
The report entitled "Characterizing Pivotal Sources of Methane Emissions from Unconventional Natural Gas Production," is a summary and analysis of survey results conducted by the URS Corporation and the LEVON Group.
ANGA and API claim the study provides more accurate information than data EPA used to formulate its stricter emissions rules for natural gas producers that will be gradually phased in until 2015. The ANGA/API-sponsored survey examined data on 91,000 wells - which compares to 8,800 wells considered by the EPA – and includes "data from nearly 20 percent of all U.S. natural gas-producing wells," ANGA said a statement.
The ANGA's news release is "Methane Emissions From Hydraulic Fracturing of Unconventional Natural Gas Wells Are Half What EPA Estimated."
Meanwhile, Bloomberg publishes an online editorial that blithely dismisses the observations of industry leaders -- who speak from experience -- economists and elected officials, "The Truth About Uncertainty Is That It’s (Mostly) Untrue," which plays down EPA's supercalifragilisticexpialatrocious record of overregulation. Benefits outweigh costs, eh?
Well, then, how about the uncertainty the results from the pending expiration of all the tax rates, exemptions, incentives and other provisions at the end of the year? CBO estimates their expiration could amount to a $500 billion tax increase. Meanwhile, there is, in effect, no tax code. Talk about uncertainty.