Chamber of Commerce Says US Economy will Collapse if Carbon Regulations are Enacted

The prospect of the U.S. regulating climate-warming carbon dioxide has sparked a pre-emptive outcry from the Chamber of Commerce. They (of course) warned of bureaucratic gridlock if proposed limits are put in place.

In a report to be released on Tuesday, the pro-business organization projected such regulation (like all other regulation apparently) will affect more than 1 million U.S. businesses and create such a regulatory backlog that it could stall economic development (FOREVER).

But a former Environmental Protection Agency attorney who now works for the Natural Resources Defense Council advocacy group said such talk is an effort to fan hysteria and avoid regulation. Every other common sense person on the planet who doesn’t have a large stake in major, polluting corporations agreed with him.

The chamber said proposed regulations would affect businesses that emit over 250 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. On average, that means any business that spends more than $70,000 on oil or natural gas each year on stationary equipment, rather than in vehicles, the report said.

Citing U.S. Census and Energy Information Administration data, the report said at least 1 million mid-sized to large commercial buildings would have to comply with carbon dioxide regulations under this scenario. So would nearly 200,000 manufacturing operations and about 20,000 large farms, according to the report.