A new analysis of Brookings Institution data by the Baton Rouge Area Chamber shows Baton Rouge is among 18 of the nation’s top 20 performing metro areas whose economies are being negatively impacted merely by the proposal of stricter air quality standards for ozone emissions by the Environmental Protection Agency.
“Since the EPA first proposed lowering the ozone standard in December, the Baton Rouge area has seen four major industrial projects totaling 2,000 direct and indirect jobs, and more than $7 billion in capital investment, either put on hold or redirected elsewhere,” BRAC says in the analysis, released this morning. “These losses are in direct correlation with the uncertainty created by the newly proposed ozone standards rule.”
The direct impact of the canceled or idled projects on the nine-parish Capital Region would have exceeded $86 million in annual wages, BRAC says.
“Also, because these projects included foreign direct investment projects, they also represented new investment from multinational corporations into the country,” BRAC adds.
The EPA proposal, which is backed by President Barack Obama’s administration, would lower the current 75 parts-per-billion limit of measured ozone pollution to between 65 and 70. The Baton Rouge area had struggled for years to meet the current federal ozone standard and only obtained 75 parts per billion measure by the end of 2013, which also put the entire state in compliance.
For its new analysis, BRAC says it used data from Brookings’ MetroMonitor report, which tracks the performance of the nation’s 100 largest metro areas based on jobs, unemployment, gross domestic product output and home prices. The MetroMonitor, released quarterly, tracks how metro areas are performing since the recession. In the most recent report, Baton Rouge is ranked No. 20. BRAC notes its analysis is merely on the effects of the proposed regulations.
“Imagine the losses if [the new standards are] actually implemented, losses not only for Baton Rouge but for other top-performing metros across the country,” the analysis says. “The implication is that U.S. government policy toward ozone, as proposed, runs in direct contradiction to America’s economic goals. More time should be taken to plan solutions that avoid the negative effects on the national economy, and especially on the top-performing regional economies in the United States.”
