New EPA Regulations Threaten Job Creation, Says Chemical Industry Council of Illinois

President Obama's Bus Tour of Battleground States Ignores Role of EPA in Preventing Economic Recovery

DES PLAINES, Ill., Aug. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- President Obama continued a three-day bus tour through the Midwest today in search of ideas for improving the faltering economy.  He will travel to Illinois tomorrow.

Chemical Industry Council of Illinois (CICI) executive director Mark Biel issued the following statement:

"President Obama's bus tour fails to address one of the most significant obstacles to job creation and economic growth – federal regulations that make it more difficult for American manufacturers to expand, invest and hire in the United States.

"For example, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to impose new, unnecessary ozone standards soon that could put a stop to new manufacturing plants and expansions, construction, and the jobs they would support in nearly every county in the country.  

"America's chemical manufacturers are poised to help create up to 400,000 U.S. jobs, thanks to the promise of domestic shale gas. Thousands of those jobs could be in Illinois, but EPA's plan to aggressively reduce ozone standards would render 19 Illinois counties off-limits to new manufacturing (see www.brt.org/ozonemap). Nationally, the Manufacturers Alliance estimated that the proposal could cost up to 7.3 million jobs by 2020.

"The ability of America's chemistry industry, and the many industries that rely on us, to innovate, compete, and create jobs is directly related to whether the nation strikes the right balance in government regulation.  At a time when the nation is wrestling with a 9.2 percent unemployment rate, President Obama should keep the EPA in check and choose to keep America open for business."

"The Chemical Industry Council of Illinois (CICI) represents 115 companies, employing 47,000 people at average wage of $81,400. Illinois' chemical industry is the third largest manufacturing sector in the state. Illinois is the fourth largest chemical producing state in the nation."

SOURCE Chemical Industry Council of Illinois