The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) on February 16 filed a legal challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent decision that will result in greenhouse gas emissions being regulated under the Clean Air Act.
“We believe that climate change is a global problem that can only be addressed effectively on a global basis,” Thomas J. Gibson, AISI president and CEO, said. “This must be the guiding principle if we are to actually lower CO2 emissions globally and do so without lessening the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers in the global marketplace. EPA’s move to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act will not address the global dimension of the climate change issue, but will place significant new burdens on steel manufacturers in the United States. This will unilaterally raise our costs, while allowing our overseas competitors to continue to increase their emissions. The result would be no environmental gain, but significant additional economic pain, including further elimination of valuable American manufacturing jobs.”
The basis for EPA’s plan to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act is its so-called “Endangerment Finding.” AISI is today filing a petition for review with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit challenging this Endangerment Finding on the grounds that EPA’s analysis of the evidence before it and its process for reaching its findings were fundamentally inadequate.
“AISI continues to believe that the proper way to address the issue of climate change is through international negotiations and domestic legislation that takes the international dimension of this issue fully into account,” said Gibson. “We call on Congress to take the lead in tackling this complex issue through the legislative process. Effective climate policy must account for and fully offset the harmful competitive impact that unilateral regulatory action could have on energy intensive industries that manufacture globally traded goods. “
AISI serves as the voice of the North American steel industry in the public policy arena and advances the case for steel in the marketplace as the material of choice. The Institute plays a lead role in the development and application of new steels and steelmaking technology. AISI is comprised of 24 member companies, including integrated and electric furnace steelmakers, and 138 associate and affiliate members who are suppliers to or customers of the steel industry. AISI's member companies represent more than 75 percent of both U.S. and North American steel capacity. For more news about steel and its applications, view AISI’s Web site at www.steel.org.