Senate's Vote Against Bill to Scrap Clean Air Standards Consistent with Small Business Opinions
Statement by John Arensmeyer, CEO, Small Business Majority, about the Senate's vote today blocking resolution S.J. Res. 37 that would have thrown out clean air rules supported by small business owners:
The vast majority of small business owners support EPA rules to reduce emissions of mercury, arsenic, chromium, nickel and acid gases from power plants. That's why we're pleased the Senate voted today to block S.J. Res. 37, a resolution that would have thrown out the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, the very rule small businesses support.
Small businesses account for a significant share of our nation's economy. For every one large business in America, there are more than 1,420 small businesses diligently working to reenergize our country's economy. These entrepreneurs are doing everything they can to hire, grow and move their business forward. As part of these efforts, our recent scientific opinion polling shows they want pragmatic, innovative policies that help guide them into a modern clean energy economy. This includes enforcing EPA regulations of mercury and other toxic emissions that get into the air from power plants.
S.J. Res. 37 would have voided the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, throwing away all the economic benefits of the rule on the basis of unfounded concerns about electricity reliability. Even worse, it would have barred the Environmental Protection Agency from issuing any standards in the future that are substantially similar.
A recent report by the Political Economy Research Institute found this new rule is part of a suite of clean air standards that will create 1.4 million new jobs over the next five years. We commend Congress for voting "no" on this resolution and hope lawmakers will get back to the real issues facing small businesses.
Who is the Small Business Majority?
Small Business Majority is a national small business advocacy organization, founded and run by small business owners, to support America's 28 million small businesses. We conduct extensive opinion and economic research and work with our rapidly growing network of small business owners across the country to ensure their voices are an integral part of the public policy debate. Learn more about us on Wikipedia and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. We also host the Health Coverage Guide, an independent, unbiased source of information for small businesses about health insurance.