EPA, Clean Air Act, and U.S. Manufacturing

The document asserts that pending EPA greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations under the Clean Air Act (CAA) will have a minimal negative economic impact on U.S. manufacturing while incentivizing significant energy efficiency gains. It argues that for most manufacturers, environmental compliance costs are negligible compared to other business expenses and market volatilities, and that the transition to more efficient technologies will ultimately reduce operational costs and improve global competitiveness.

• Initial GHG regulations starting in 2011 will only affect a small number of facilities, specifically new ones or those undergoing major modifications, representing fewer than 15% of all large stationary sources annually. Regulations for existing facilities are not expected to take effect until 2016 or later.
• The adoption of current best-practice technologies could lead to total energy savings of up to 40% across various manufacturing processes. Specifically, the oil refining and flat glass manufacturing sectors could reduce total energy usage by 38% and 28%, respectively.
• Factors such as natural gas market prices and currency exchange rates have a significantly larger impact on international trade flows and industrial competitiveness than domestic environmental compliance costs.
• Because commercial-scale carbon capture and storage technologies are not yet available for retrofitting, the Best Available Control Technologies (BACT) standards are likely to require only the use of off-the-shelf energy efficient equipment, such as boilers.

APA

World Resources Institute (2010). EPA, Clean Air Act, and U.S. Manufacturing. http://pdf.wri.org/factsheets/factsheet_epa_clean_air_act_us_manufacturing.pdf

Chicago

World Resources Institute. EPA, Clean Air Act, and U.S. Manufacturing. 2010. http://pdf.wri.org/factsheets/factsheet_epa_clean_air_act_us_manufacturing.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=EPA, Clean Air Act, and U.S. Manufacturing |date=1 November 2010 |url=http://pdf.wri.org/factsheets/factsheet_epa_clean_air_act_us_manufacturing.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2010epa, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{EPA, Clean Air Act, and U.S. Manufacturing}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2010}, month = nov, url = {http://pdf.wri.org/factsheets/factsheet_epa_clean_air_act_us_manufacturing.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }