Imagine being able to prevent 300,000 American sick days annually. That is nearly 2 1/2 million hours of American labor. Think how much this costs in terms of productivity, strength and stability for everyone from the standalone shops to the large corporations. Now, imagine fighting not to do so.
As Republicans continue their campaign to gut the major EPA accomplishments and proposals of the Obama Administration, Isaac Shapiro has published a detailed cost-benefit analysis of these regulations. It is increasingly clear that the conservative position is not merely anti-science or even anti-health... it's bad for business.
From Shapiro's Economic Policy Institute paper:
"Two broad conclusions emerge from this analysis. First, the dollar value of the benefits of the major rules finalized or proposed by the EPA so far during the Obama administration exceeds the rules’ costs by an exceptionally wide margin. Health benefits in terms of lives saved and illnesses avoided will be enormous. Expressed in 2010 dollars:
The combined annual benefits from all final rules exceed their costs by $32 billion to $142 billion a year. The benefit/cost ratio ranges from 4-to-1 to 22-to-1.
The combined annual benefits from four proposed rules examined here exceed their costs by $160 billion to $440 billion a year. The benefit/cost ratio ranges from 12-to-1 to 32-to-1."
One dramatic section deals explicitly with the regulations proposed but not yet in place.
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In light of Rep. John Sullivan (R-OK) bringing the "TRAIN Act" to the floor of the house, the EPI numbers deserve some attention.
