[Vulcan]

A lot of overreaction buy big business and the Republicans but it's good to remember Lee Iacocca's reaction to the tailpipe emissions rule.

For example, one of the examples cited in the report concerned a forecast by legendary auto industry executive Lee Iacocca that a 1970s tailpipe emissions rule would cause Ford Motor Co. to shut down and would cost 800,000 jobs. In that particular instance, the industry was able to solve the problem without economic upheaval, and polluting emissions were dramatically reduced almost overnight.

In another case, industry said that a rule to protect workers from cancer-causing fumes from the manufacture of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) would be impossible to meet and would cost 2.2 million jobs. But in that instance, industry was quickly able to develop a new system that both ended the cancer threat and increased efficiency.

In another case, industry representatives warned that a 1990s clean air law would cost up to 2 million jobs. But complying with that law ended up being far less expensive than expected, and the resulting cleaner air is credited with preventing about 200,000 premature deaths a year.

In another case, the petrochemical industry said that banning lead in gasoline would jeopardize up to 42 million jobs. But suitable substitutes for lead were easily adapted, and the removal of lead from the atmosphere is credited with preventing 1.2 million premature deaths every year.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/taylor...b_4270024.html