Guest OpEd: Obama Regulations are Killing U.S. Jobs by John E. Peterson

President Obama’s hostile attack on oil production and refining is accomplishing its defined goal of making oil more expensive so his green energy allies can compete.  And while it is a cold, hard fact that wind and solar energy will not replace a single barrel of oil in our transportation system, Obama’s policies are leading to skyrocketing prices at the pump and unaffordable heating costs for millions of Americans.  Nowhere is this more evident than here in the Northeast, where nearly eight million Americans still heat their homes with oil.

And by the time we’re ready to put the dark days of winter behind us and move into spring, thousands of workers in Eastern Pennsylvania will be heading into their own dark days as they face an uncertain economic future. Since the end of 2010, three oil refineries in the Philadelphia area have closed or face closure. Union officials have predicted the loss of more than 2,000 direct jobs and up to 20,000 indirect jobs that were supported by these refineries.

Those same union officials have been very active over the past few months lobbying federal officials in Washington to keep the refineries open. I commend them on their attempts – although late – to save the individuals and communities that stand to lose everything.

In addition to union activity, several liberal Members of Congress have expressed concern over the potential for refinery closures. Recently, my former colleagues Representatives Markey (D-MA), Waxman (D-CA) and Brady (D-PA) all derided refining companies for putting “profits over people.” This statement came in response to an Energy Information Administration analysis indicating the recent refinery closures could lead to price spikes and home heating oil shortages in the northeast, some in Congress are starting to get concerned about energy costs to American consumers.

If union members and some liberal Democrats are as concerned about energy supplies as their recent statements indicate, why did they support all-cost, no-benefit EPA regulations that have contributed to the closures in the first place?  Additionally, why did they oppose legislation that would have helped keep refineries open and support bills that make the plight of American refining worse?

According to a Department of Energy report issued in 2011, the compounded burden of federal regulations was a significant factor in the closure of 66 petroleum refineries in the U.S. over the past 20 years. Since 2008, the recession and refinery closures have led to 3,000 lost jobs at American refineries prior to the announcement of the northeast refinery closures. Now the employees of those refineries will be added to those devastating numbers.

Congress has considered legislation this year that would have at least taken a step to stop the bleeding. Unfortunately, neither the unions nor my previously mentioned former colleagues supported these initiatives.  Specifically, these bills include:

The Energy Tax Prevention Act, which would have stopped EPA’s greenhouse gas regulations that the Agency itself has admitted will do absolutely nothing to reduce global GHG concentrations, and that Congressional hearings revealed are already costing refining and manufacturing jobs. Waxman, Markey and Brady all opposed this measure.

The McConnell Amendment, the Senate companion to the Energy Tax Prevention Act, would have taken similar steps toward saving refinery jobs.  For the record here in Pennsylvania, Senator Toomey supported the amendment and Senator Casey opposed it.

The TRAIN Act and the Kinzinger-Gonzalez Tier III Amendment were measures that would have simply required a realistic economic and jobs analysis of the blizzard of regulations facing refineries and other American industrial businesses. The amendment would have applied such analysis on a new EPA gasoline regulation that will have almost no environmental benefit, but which studies indicate could lead to an additional 4 to 7 refinery closures. Once again, Waxman, Markey, and Brady all opposed these measures.

Sadly, the trend of overregulation and congressional hostility to traditional energy sources will inevitably result in more jobs moving overseas to foreign competitors not strangled by our country’s regime of burdensome environmental and business regulations.  And that’s on top of the basic energy cost increase that will continue to hit American consumers who must endure the consequences of refinery closures like those in Pennsylvania.  In fact, the three recent closures account for nearly half of the Northeast’s total refining capacity.

Anyone interested in the best interests of American consumers, the survival of U.S. manufacturers, and the preservation of refinery jobs should oppose today’s overregulation. This would be the most effective action to keep down home heating oil and fuel costs, prevent refinery closures, and to stop our jobs from going overseas.

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In the spirit of bipartisanship, U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) announced today that they will sit together during President Obama’s State of the Union address Jan. 25. Democrats and Republicans have typically sat in different sections of the House chamber during the speech.

Love is Sweeping the Nation

“The simple act of sitting together in a normally divided chamber will send an important signal that legislating shouldn’t be about taking partisan sides,” said Sen. Casey. “Sen. Toomey and I will sit together as public officials representing all the people of Pennsylvania. I look forward to working together and hope the bipartisan spirit will continue for all members of Congress.”

“I am proud to sit with my fellow colleague from Pennsylvania, Sen. Bob Casey,” Sen. Toomey said. “There will be many opportunities for us to work together in the 112th Congress, and sitting next to each other is a small but important step toward setting a civil and cooperative tone for the challenging work ahead of us.”

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Schweiker: Senate Run “Not in the Cards” | PoliticsPA

Former Governor Mark Schweiker definitively ruled out a challenge to U.S. Senator Bob Casey in an interview this afternoon with PoliticsPA.

“It’s always flattering to hear such invocations, but it wasn’t born of my thought process. It’s not in the cards. It was never in the cards,” said Schweiker.

Read the full post.

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Updated 11/12/10 with new submissions

As Republicans painted the state of Pennsylvania red last week incumbent senator Bob Casey was taking a hard look at his chances for reelection in 2012. At this point no Republicans (that I am aware of) have announced a challenge to Senator Casey. But with the midterm elections over bloggers, having nothing to write about,  summarily discuss and toss around ideas of possible challengers to Senator Casey. Here is the Keystone Conservative list (in no particular order).

Pat Meehan

Previous candidate for Governor and Philly outlier, Meehan has as long history with PA politics and could easily jump into the 2012 Senate race. His big negative is his connections to former senator Arlen Specter.

Jim Gerlach

Another candidate for Governor and Philly outlier, Gerlach has the state wide name recognition and the party connections to jump into a GOP senate primary in 2011.

Joe Scarnati

The only lieutenant in the history of Pennsylvania to serve are as the Republican lieutenant governor with a sitting Democrat Governor. Scarnati, from Brockway PA, has the connections and decent statewide name recognition to throw his hat into the race.

Tom Ridge

Former PA Governor and director of homeland Security is another possibility. But after a failed recruitment attempt to run against Pat Toomey he may not want to run for Senate unless the way was cleared ahead of time.

Jake Corman

A rising star in Pennsylvania politics Corman (Senator from the 34th senatorial district) is another potential Casey challenger in 2012. He was the State Director for central PA for Senator Rick Santorum (94-98).

Glen Meakem

Meakem, conservative radio talkshow host and previous campaign chairman for William Scranton III for lieutenant governor. Meakem reportedly considered running against Senator Arlen Specter in the 2010 Primary.

Sam Rohrer

Rohrer has plenty of statewide name recognition after his primary race with Governor Elect Tom Corbett. He would face an uphill battle for the nomination and has stated he isn’t interested in Federal office.

Bruce Castor

Castor former Montgomery County DA and current Montgomery County Commissioner is another name being mentioned as a possible challenger for Senator Bob Casey.

Marc Scaringi

Scaringi has already announced his campaign for senate in 2012. Scaringi is a Harrisburg based lawyer who worked with Rick Santorum for senate campaign in 1994. [facebook campaign page]

Jane Orie

Orie, state senator representing the 40th senatorial district. Orie recently resigned her position as Republican whip due to a corruption indictment. If she can clear up the charges quickly Orie could be another possibility in the 2012 senate race.

That’s the list so far, leave a comment with thoughts, suggestions and opinions of who should or shouldn’t be on this list.

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