Government regulations result in less than 1% of layoffs, says Environmental Integrity Project study

Government regulations, such as the Obama administration's environmental regulations that are being blamed for the downturn in coal, cause less than one percent of layoffs, says a study by the Environmental Integrity Project, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit. The study found that layoffs "are caused far more often by corporate buyouts, technological advances and lower overseas labor costs."

The study, which used data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, found that "only two tenths of one percent of mass layoffs—defined as more than 50 people laid off for at least 30 days—are caused by government intervention or regulations. For every job lost due to regulations, 15 are lost due to corporate cost cutting and 30 are lost due to changes in the ownership of business or other organizational changes."

The report found that "over the last decade, the benefits of environmental regulations have exceeded their costs by a ratio of more than 10-to-1," Arianna Skibell reports for Greenwire. "And major rules provide a net economic benefit of over $500 billion per year."

West Virginia Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and a coalition of 18 state attorneys sent a letter to Vice President-elect Mike Pence and congressional leaders urging them to end what they referred to as job-killing regulations, Skibell writes. Morrisey wrote: "Millions of hardworking Americans justifiably feel that the federal government too easily ignores the impact that federal rules have on jobs and the economy. Indeed, by one estimate, businesses and individuals have recently spent over $2 trillion annually in regulatory compliance."

Also signing the letter were Republican attorney generals from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming.