What I’m about to say isn’t good business. Some might say it’s anti-business. It will ruffle a few feathers and most likely generate hate mail – but your grandchildren will thank me for it.
The federal Clean Power Plan is a good thing.
The new regulations issued Aug. 3, 2015, by the Environmental Protection Agency aim to guide local utility providers toward renewable energy and away from coal-focused electricity generation, cutting emissions by 32 percent to pre-2005 levels. Each state has its own federally required goal, and Missouri aims to decrease carbon pollution by 37 percent from 2012 levels by 2030. In a state where 80 percent of electric energy is produced from cost-conscious coal, significant changes to methods of generation and the cost of power are on the horizon.
To that I say, huzzah! But utility providers nationwide have balked at the regulations, calling them too much too soon.
Their main objection is money, because no matter which way you spin it, it’s going to cost a lot.
The EPA projects implementation could cost roughly $8.4 billion on a national scale. According to Springfield Business Journal reporting, Arlington, Va.-based consultant Energy Ventures Analysis found the Clean Power Plan would raise Missouri’s wholesale power costs 26 percent by 2030.
As a pro-business organization, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry came out against the plan. Tracy King, the state chamber’s vice president of governmental affairs, summed up the argument for an SBJ article last month: Individual utility providers should decide how best to serve customers, not the government.
Business is going to do what’s best for business, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But who’s going to do what’s best for the environment? Who will speak for the trees? That’s why the EPA is important.
Don’t see the value in saving the air we breath? Look at it this way: What if there were no child labor laws?
Something we take for granted today, something looked at as common sense and common practice once took a mighty effort to gain public support. According to Scholastic.com, the U.S. Congress passed two child labor laws, in 1918 and 1922, but the Supreme Court declared both unconstitutional. In 1924, Congress proposed a constitutional amendment prohibiting child labor, but the states did not ratify it. Then, in 1938, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act, still in use today.
Passing child labor laws upset the balance of business and cost employers money, but I think we can all agree, it was for the best. The same can be said about the Clean Power Plan.
However, the plan currently is on hold. A 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 9 effectively reversed a lower court decision, which denied a stay sought by 27 states, including Missouri, and industry groups that challenged the plan’s legality. The hold will remain in effect until the circuit court resolves the legal challenges and either the Supreme Court decides not to review the Washington, D.C., court’s decision or the highest court in the land issues its own opinion.
What good is a successful business and all the money in the world if the planet you call home is dying? I may not be the Lorax, but I’ll speak for the trees.
Springfield Business Journal Features Editor and Audience Development Director Emily Letterman can be reached at eletterman@sbj.net.
