Carlton Carroll | 202.682.8114 | carrollc@api.org

WASHINGTION, July 15, 2011 – API President and CEO Jack Gerard today called on EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to stop the agency’s out-of-cycle ozone review that could seriously set back our economic recovery and harm millions of unemployed Americans. Gerard called for the meeting with the EPA and was joined by a broad cross-section of business organizations. After the meeting, Gerard said:

"These proposed standards are so stringent that it would put nearly every county in America in non-compliance, including areas such as the pristine Yellowstone National Park. Ozone levels continue to improve, and current regulations are already protecting our air and the health of our citizens. Changing the standard now could have a severe impact on economic growth and could prevent the very job creation that President Obama has identified as his top priority.

"Americans want reasonable regulation, but this is government out of control. The proposed ozone standard would be costly, unattainable and impose a severe burden on manufacturers, the economy, jobs and consumers."

API called on EPA to consider review of the new standards under its normal five-year review cycle.

A Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI study finds that lowering the ozone standard could sacrifice 7.3 million U.S. jobs by 2020 and add $1 trillion in new regulatory costs per year between 2020 and 2030.

API represents more than 470 oil and natural gas companies, leaders of a technology-driven industry that supplies most of America’s energy, supports more than 9.2 million U.S. jobs and 7.7 percent of the U.S. economy, delivers $86 million in revenue to our government every day, and, since 2000, has invested nearly $2 trillion in U.S. capital projects to advance all forms of energy, including alternatives.