Emails released yesterday by the E&E Legal Institute show how the EPA used ‘offline channels’ to work with anti-fossil fuel activists, environmental reporters, green groups, and lobbyists to craft global warming rules. E&E Legal (EELI) notes this back-channeling was used to thwart FOIA requests and federal recordkeeping laws as the agency spearheaded numerous #Climate Change regulations that are still reverberating throughout the industry and small businesses trying to comply.
Some of these regulations may sound familiar, including: increased miles per gallon for cars (CAFE standards) and trucks, and the Clean Power Plan (CPP) currently on hold by the U.S. Supreme Court. The CPP was intended as President #Obama‘s signature climate change achievement, intended to address global warming by shuttering coal-fired power plants. But as EPA head Gina McCarthy admitted to congress, the new regulations would only avert warming by .01 degrees at best.
Offline channels
The number of climate-related rules issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is now in the hundreds of thousands, with more coming down the pipeline. The emails show that green groups were advising the EPA on rule making on everything from fracking to pipelines. They also show that Democratic congressional aides used these ‘offline channels’ to coordinate with outside groups on new rules and regulations.
These various regulations and restrictions have far-reaching impacts, including the just-announced news that Ford will be moving a small-car facility to Mexico. Why? The Ford move has less to do with low-cost labor and more to do with Obama’s new CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards. The Wayne, Mich., facility that currently makes these small cars will now make Ford Rangers or the latest Bronco sport-utility truck. And while the net change for American jobs may be zero, it will create new work for Mexico, not the U.S.
