The American Foundry Society submitted comments April 26 supporting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed repeal of the Clean Power Plan. Citing “significant negative impacts on a broad range of industries, including the metalcasting industry,” AFS said it backed plans to repeal the agency’s carbon pollution emission guidelines for existing power plants.
“The metalcasting industry is a vital part of the U.S. economy, and AFS is concerned that the CPP could cause foundry closures, loss of high-wage manufacturing jobs, and loss of business to global competition,” AFS wrote in a statement to the EPA.
Metal castings are used to produce 90 percent of all manufactured durable goods and are integral to national defense and virtually every U.S. industry. The CPP provides few, if any, environmental benefits, AFS stated in its comments, but it would increase electricity costs, disproportionately impact poor and disadvantaged communities, limit states’ rights and weaken the nation’s power grid. In turn, it imposes unnecessary regulatory costs and causes unintended economic harm to Americans.
The Clean Power Plan was made final in August 2015 by the Obama administration. According to the plan, it tried to cut electricity carbon emissions 32 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. The plan never went into effect, as industry challenged the plan in court, along with more than two dozen states. The U.S. Supreme Court put the regulations on hold in February 2016.
“Through its regulations, EPA should promote an environmentally sustainable energy policy that ensures reliable, effective and affordable energy for U.S. households and manufacturing,” AFS wrote. “… As an energy-intensive, trade-exposed industry that is a vital part of U.S. manufacturing and trade, AFS and the metalcasting industry strongly support EPA’s proposed repeal of the CPP.”
The American Foundry Society is a dynamic technical and advocacy organization that serves and represents the $33 billion metalcasting industry. AFS is the only association serving the entire industry, including all metals and processes, with a three-part focus on advocacy, education, and innovation. AFS also publishes Modern Casting and Metal Casting Design & Purchasing magazines and presents Metalcasting Congress and CastExpo, the largest metalcasting trade events in North America. Founded in 1896, the organization is based in Schaumburg, Illinois, with an advocacy office in Washington, D.C. More information is available at afsinc.org.