Energy — in particular, electricity — is one of the most significant cost drivers for the production of steel. Power-plant regulations proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency, on which public hearings were held in Pittsburgh, Denver, Washington and Atlanta recently, could severely harm the international competitiveness of energy-intensive U.S. industries like steel.
The leading states in terms of iron and steel production in the U.S. are heavily dependent on coal for electricity production and, therefore, so is the steel industry. And this EPA proposal doesn't go after the root issue, which is that efforts to address climate change can only be truly effective when undertaken on a global basis.
When CO2 regulations are instituted in the United States, limitations must apply at the same level of stringency to other major steel-producing nations, such as China. Otherwise, steel production and manufacturing jobs will shift to other nations with higher rates of greenhouse-gas emissions.
These proposed regulations will have a disproportionate impact on coal-fired utilities and a detrimental effect on steelmaking, as the costs of compliance and reliability risk are borne by the steel industry and its 19,878 workers in Pennsylvania.
We urge Congress to act now to oppose the EPA's plans to unilaterally threaten the affordability and reliability of electricity supplies to our industry.
Source: triblive.com
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