Jobs vs. the Environment: Can A Middle Ground Be Found?

"The question of just how much environmental regulation hurts jobs is a particularly delicate one as leaders in Washington debate the best ways to address the nation's stubbornly high unemployment rate (9.1 percent in August of 2011).

Can a middle-ground be found on this debate? It may be spelled-out in President Obama's upcoming speech on Thursday, Sept. 8. In any case, "Republicans are pushing for a rollback in environmental regulations that they say saddle companies with onerous costs that curtail jobs without leading to significant improvement in environmental or public health....." In addition, they are targeting labor and health care regulations .

"For now, the Obama administration is moving ahead with plans for a number of other environmental rules, including regulations governing industrial emissions that cross state lines and toxic air pollution from power plants and factory boilers.

In issuing new regulations, the administration says it weighs job creation and economic growth as carefully as it does health, safety and environmental impacts, a commitment enshrined in an executive order signed by the president earlier this year."