CO2 emission reduction not a one-sided affair

New study shows risks of carbon legislation to national economy, not just cement producers.

{reg} In a paper released today at a discussion sponsored by the Women's Council on Energy and the Environment (WCEE), Dr. Ragnar Lofstedt, director of King's Centre for Risk Management, King's College, London highlighted how the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) new National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) implementation for cement manufacturers may result in untoward effects for the American economy and the health of the global environment, as reported by Logistics Today.

Other panel participants included Amanda Leiter, associate professor at the Columbus School of Law, Catholic University of America, with Lisa Jaeger, WCEE member and former acting general counsel of the U.S. EPA.

As reported by Logistics Today, the ÔÇ£EPA's proposed NESHAP for Portland Cement: Ignoring the Risk-Risk Trade-Off builds a case for re-examination of the proposed rule based on historical evidence and research that suggests the EPA did not take certain factors into consideration.ÔÇØ The risk factors mentioned were lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions, global plant emissions, risk-risk trade-off and the instability of the U.S. Economy.

Dr. Lofstedt's study concluded that strict enforcement of the NESHAP rules on the cement industry would result in many plants having to close or reduce annual product output. This would mean that more cement would be imported from foreign countries, especially China, who is the largest cement-producing country in the world.

Cement produced in China does not meet the same quality standards, either performance-wise or environmentally-wise as does U.S. produced cement. A study from China University suggests that less than 10 percent of China's environmental laws are enforced.

More cement from China in the U.S. would mean more greenhouse gasses, more global cement plant emissions and a hit to an already rocky U.S. Economy.