The more than 200 regulations imposed since the beginning of the Obama administration bear a price tag of more than $100 billion according to an analysis released by the Heritage Foundation Monday. “The actual costs are far greater, both because costs have not been fully quantified for a significant number of rules, and because many of the worst effects—the loss of freedom and opportunity, for example—are incalculable,” according to the report.
The document notes specifically the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, carbon emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plants. According to the report, the rule, which requires states to develop action plans to meet federally set state-specific emissions reduction goals, “was the single most costly regulation imposed in 2015—with $7.2 billion in annual costs, according to the agency.”
As significant as that sum seems, it does not reflect the true cost of the regulations, according to the report. “Not only will electricity rates increase, but so will the prices of virtually all U.S. products, because energy is a primary component of all manufacturing. Low-income families and fixed-income seniors will be hardest hit, of course; higher prices consume a larger proportion of their assets. Higher prices also dampen consumer demand, which imperils jobs,” the document says.
