Obama’s Not-Listening Tour

August 25, 2011

Democrats Continue to Defend Their EPA’s Job-Destroying Regulations and Double-Down With Failed “Green Jobs” Schemes

A highlight of President Obama’s “listening tour” last week was his decision to double-down on the job-destroying policies of his EPA. When a farmer raised his concerns about overregulation hurting his business, Obama dismissed those concerns, telling him, “don’t always believe what you hear.”
Given what we know about the EPA’s recent regulatory actions, a better lesson might be not to “always believe what you hear” from the president himself. The EPA’s job-destroying new regulations, including the dust rules mentioned by the farmer talking to Obama, are all too real. And Democrats are rushing to the EPA’s defense as the agency presses ahead with various other regulatory actions that will destroy jobs.
Even as President Obama and his EPA are destroying jobs all over America, his “green jobs” strategy to turn around the economy is proving to be a dud.

BACKGROUND

A highlight of President Obama’s “listening tour” last week was his decision to double-down on the job-destroying policies of his EPA. When a farmer raised his concerns about overregulation hurting his business, Obama dismissed those concerns, telling him, “don’t always believe what you hear”:

FARMER ASKS PRESIDENT ABOUT “RULES AND REGULATIONS FROM WASHINGTON,” OUT-OF-TOUCH OBAMA SAYS “DON’T ALWAYS BELIEVE WHAT YOU HEAR.” “A farmer took his turn at the microphone and, after welcoming the President to town, said that drought conditions had made it an especially tough year in the Midwest. Then he said, ‘Please don’t challenge us with more rules and regulations from Washington, D.C.’ He added that farmers liked to rise in the morning and start tending their fields, not their paperwork.

“Mr. Obama asked which rules the farmer had in mind, and the man responded that pending rules on noise pollution, dust pollution and water run-off were of concern. Was this a valuable opportunity for the President to discover more of those unnecessary rules that he claimed to be hunting down and eliminating last winter?

“No, Mr. Obama quickly made clear that he wasn’t on a listening tour of the Midwest. He instructed the farmer, ‘If you hear something’s happening, but it hasn’t happened, don’t always believe what you hear.’” (Editorial, “Obama on the Farm,” The Wall Street Journal, 8/18/2011)

Given what we know about the EPA’s recent regulatory actions, a better lesson might be not to “always believe what you hear” from the president himself. The EPA’s job-destroying new regulations, including the dust rules mentioned by the farmer talking to Obama, are all too real. And Democrats are rushing to the EPA’s defense as the agency presses ahead with various other regulatory actions that will destroy jobs:

EPA DENIES NEW FARM DUST REGULATIONS, BUT CONFIRMS IT IS “REVIEWING ITS STANDARDS ON PARTICULATE MATTER” AND SAYS “FARM DUST” IS A “POLLUTANT.” “The agency is reviewing its standards on particulate matter this summer, and some Republicans are afraid those regulations will in fact be changed.

“ ‘This is a myth the administrator has debunked personally on several occasions,’ EPA spokesman Brendan Gilfillan said. ‘While the EPA is mandated by the [Clean Air Act] to review air-quality standards for pollutants like farm dust every five years, and that review is currently ongoing, we have no plans to put stricter standards in place. That review, at the administrator’s direction, has involved extensive outreach to farmers and ranchers.’ ” (Erik Wasson and Andrew Restuccia, “GOP Fall Regulations Agenda Takes Shape,” The Hill, 8/22/2011)

BIPARTISAN GROUP OF 21 SENATORS SENT LETTER TO THE EPA URGING THE AGENCY REFRAIN FROM AN “UNPARALLED REGULATION OF DUST.” (Jacqueline Sit, “EPA to Crack Down on Farm Dust,” News 9, 8/1/2010)

75% OF DEMS SIDE WITH OBAMA’S EPA, OPPOSE PLAN FOR NEW ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AND JOBS. (H.R. 1938, Roll Call #650, Passed 279-147, 7/26/2011)

DESPITE THE FACT THAT THIS PLAN COULD CREATE UP TO 230,000 NEW JOBS.(“Restarting the Engine: Securing American Jobs, Investment, and Energy Security,” IHS Global, 7/29/2011)

OBAMA ANNOUNCES NEW FUEL ECONOMY STANDARDS AT A COST OF UP TO 220,000 JOBS: “The recent agreement between the government, automakers and environmentalists to meet a 54.5 mpg fuel economy standard in 2025 is a significant challenge, according to the Michigan-based Defour Group. … In an earlier study, the Defour Group estimated a 56 mpg standard would cost 220,000 jobs in the automotive industry in 2025.” (“54.5 MPG Standard by MY2025 a Daunting Challenge,” Defour Group, LLC, Accessed 7/29/2011)

Even as President Obama and his EPA are destroying jobs all over America, his “green jobs” strategy to turn around the economy is proving to be a dud.What will it take for Democrats to abandon their green jobs boondoggle and get serious about job creation?:

“NUMBER OF GREEN JOBS FAILS TO LIVE UP TO PROMISES.” “In the Bay Area as in much of the country, the green economy is not proving to be the job-creation engine that many politicians envisioned. President Obama once pledged to create five million green jobs over 10 years. Gov. Jerry Brown promised 500,000 clean-technology jobs statewide by the end of the decade. But the results so far suggest such numbers are a pipe dream.” (Aaron Glantz, “Number of Green Jobs Fails to Live Up to Promises,” The New York Times, 8/18/2011)

“EFFORTS TO STIMULATE CREATION OF GREEN JOBS HAVE LARGELY FAILED, GOVERNMENT RECORDS SHOW.” “Federal and state efforts to stimulate creation of green jobs have largely failed, government records show. Two years after it was awarded $186 million in federal stimulus money to weatherize drafty homes, California has spent only a little over half that sum and has so far created the equivalent of just 538 full-time jobs in the last quarter, according to the State Department of Community Services and Development.

“The weatherization program was initially delayed for seven months while the federal Department of Labor determined prevailing wage standards for the industry. Even after that issue was resolved, the program never really caught on.”(Aaron Glantz, “Number of Green Jobs Fails to Live Up to Promises,” The New York Times, 8/18/2011)

STUDY BY LEFT-LEANING BROOKINGS INSTITUTION FOUND GREEN JOBS “ACCOUNTED FOR JUST 2 PERCENT OF EMPLOYMENT NATIONWIDE.” “A study released in July by the non-partisan Brookings Institution found clean-technology jobs accounted for just 2 percent of employment nationwide and only slightly more — 2.2 percent — in Silicon Valley. Rather than adding jobs, the study found, the sector actually lost 492 positions from 2003 to 2010 in the South Bay, where the unemployment rate in June was 10.5 percent.” (Aaron Glantz, “Number of Green Jobs Fails to Live Up to Promises,” The New York Times, 8/18/2011)

FLASHBACK: RECENT OBAMA “GREEN JOBS” PUSH SHOWCASED COMPANYWITH MORE THAN 50 PERCENT OF ITS EMPLOYEES IN CHINA: “President Barack Obama will visit the North Carolina-based Cree LED Light Company Monday to tour the plant and meet with his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness to discuss job creation and policies to spur economic growth.

“But Cree, a major recipient of Recovery Act funds, may be sending that money straight to China. At the very least, its CEO, Chuck Swoboda, has a very China-centered strategy that involves building a new plant overseas…

“Then in late 2010, the company opened its first plant in Huizhou City,China. That made Cree the first global LED company to locate a manufacturing plant in China.

“But that plant is only beginning of an expansion in China, says Swoboda. At the opening of the plant, Swoboda boasted that more than 50 percent of Cree’s employees live and work in China.” (Amanda Carey, “Obama Discusses Jobs at Company Shifting Focus to China,” The Daily Caller, 6/13/2011)

GREEN JOBS BOONDOGGLE CONTINUES AS SOLAR COMPANY SHUTS DOWN, CITING INABILITY TO COMPETE WITH CHINA: “Evergreen Solar Inc., once a darling of the U.S. solar industry, filed for bankruptcy protection this week, saying it couldn’t compete with Chinese competitors without a reorganization—a sign of the difficulty in creating ‘green’ U.S. manufacturing jobs amid bruising competition across the globe.” (Russell Gold, “Overrun by Chinese Rivals, U.S. Solar Company Falters,” The Wall Street Journal, 8/16/2011)