The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will soon be under new leadership. President-elect Donald Trump has nominated former Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) to head the agency, and the incoming administrator has described his mandate as “unleashing economic prosperity.”
As a former EPA official and the current vice president of government relations at an organization that works with investors and businesses to advance effective and profitable climate solutions, let me state clearly: Zeldin is right. The EPA should unleash American prosperity. In fact, its existing standards and policies play a key role in doing just that.
The EPA quietly plays an integral role in our economy. While its rules sometimes come under criticism as burdening businesses, they have in fact had a long history of stimulating economic growth. The policies also provide stability and predictability that benefits companies, and they have a long track record as a catalyst for innovation inspiring growth and development.
Zeldin — notably, a former member of Congress’s Bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus — has specifically said the EPA should play a significant role in reinvigorating the U.S. auto industry. I couldn’t agree more.
World markets are shifting (in some countries quite rapidly) to cleaner vehicles. The best way to keep the U.S. auto sector competitive is to provide the support it needs to adapt to changes in the global marketplace. Already, federal tax incentives strongly encourage electric vehicles to be built in the U.S., helping drive domestic investment into the industry and create new jobs. The EPA’s standing policy to cut greenhouse gas pollution from cars and trucks through 2032 will play a crucial role in helping the industry further prepare for the electric future, by providing certainty and predictability as auto companies plot out multi-year plans for investment and manufacturing growth.
Don’t just take my word for it. Major U.S. manufacturers came out in support of the EPA’s vehicle standards, and Ford Motor Co. has publicly said its business operations are aligned with the standards — that it values the regulatory certainty over “the possibility of flip-flopping or changing standards.”
That perspective extends beyond vehicle standards. Since the election, ExxonMobil has called for the U.S. to maintain its climate policy environment. CEO Darren Woods said that, given the ongoing global push to cut emissions, any changes to U.S. policy in the short-term “would just make the longer-term that much more challenging.” Back-and-forth policy change as administrations change, he suggested, is “not good for the economy.”
Regulatory certainty also helps to drive innovation. While EPA rules to cut down on different pollutants have regularly been criticized as too difficult or costly to achieve, time and again they have been achieved because of the EPA’s careful analysis and close collaboration with the market. While the EPA is not unreasonable — it has been flexible with deadlines and standards in the face of industry concern — the very existence of a new “technology-forcing” rule has focused industries on solutions, often resulting in brand-new technologies or more efficient business processes.
A case in point: In the late 1970s and early 1980s, EPA rules to cut down on nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbon pollution from vehicles resulted in the design of the three-way catalytic converter that improves air quality and fuel efficiency. It was a major advancement in vehicle and pollution control technology that has been adopted worldwide. We can all breathe more easily thanks to the EPA standards which spurred its creation.
I’ve been thinking about this track record of pushing innovation with regard to the power plant rules the EPA finalized earlier this year. The rules seek to cut carbon pollution from electricity generation and encourage the adoption of still-nascent carbon capture technology. For many years, the fossil fuel industry has promised that this technology could serve as an essential climate solution by preventing greenhouse gases from reaching the atmosphere, where they heat the planet. Now, EPA rules will focus on developing and implementing the technology at scale. Success would help the U.S. develop new technology that will be in demand worldwide as the global effort to confront climate change expands — another proof point of the EPA’s role in driving innovation.
As a new administrator prepares to take the reins at the EPA, I hope he will keep these dynamics in mind. The world continues to demand solutions to our climate challenges; the U.S. is incredibly well-positioned to provide them, and EPA policies provide vital support in bringing them to market. I can think of no better way to unleash U.S. economic prosperity than to maintain the EPA’s important role in driving private-sector ingenuity forward.
Anne Kelly is vice president of government relations at Ceres.
