Isra-Mart srl:White House downplays risk of climate rules "rollback"

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Isra-Mart srl news:

The White House yesterday moved to dampen fears that president Obama's decision to order a review of all government regulations would result in a rollback of environmental and climate change regulations.

Obama yesterday signed an executive order requiring all federal agencies to carry out a review of regulations to ensure they "protect our safety, health and environment while promoting economic growth".

Writing in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that was largely interpreted as an attempt to appease business leaders who have accused the administration of delivering a "regulatory tsunami", Obama said that the review would "remove outdated regulations that stifle job creation and make our economy less competitive".

While the president insisted the administration's green regulations had delivered net economic benefits, green groups expressed fears the review could be used to roll back environmental legislation opposed by business groups, including the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) controversial efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

Speaking to reporters, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs offered reassurances that the administration had no intention of watering down environmental regulations.

"Go back 20, go back 30 years, go back to the late 1960s when rivers were on fire, when there were very few rules that didn't allow the emittance of the types of pollution that caused asthma or threatened the health of the American people," he said. "We're not going to go back to that. There's a reason why those are in place."

But he did admit that environmental and public health legislation would be covered by the review.

"Let's go review and ensure that as we're protecting that health, that we're not sacrificing unnecessarily economic growth," he said. "But at the same time, let's not forget the important reason why a number of those... regulations are likely in place, and that is to protect the well-being of the American people."

A spokesman for the EPA told the influential Hill Blog that the agency was "confident" its upcoming climate rules would not fall foul of the review, despite the fact it is facing numerous legal challenges from business groups.

"EPA is confident that our recent and upcoming steps to address GHG emissions under the Clean Air Act comfortably pass muster under the sensible standards the president has laid out," an EPA official told the website in a statement.

However, White House sources have signalled that the review would mean that new climate rules will be subjected to more detailed cost-benefit analysis to ensure the economic impact of measures to curb emissions are minimised.