When you think about it, the Environmental Protection Agency is asking an awful lot from the country with its proposed, more restrictive standard on ozone. Underline the word "awful":

• 7.3 million U.S. jobs could be lost by 2020, according to a Manufacturers Alliance (MAPI) study.
• An additional $1 trillion in new regulatory costs per year between 2020 and 2030 again, according to the MAPI study.
• About 85 percent of the country in non-compliance with the new standard, including pristine areas like Yellowstone National Park. More below.

Here's the kicker: EPA has no real idea how the country would get in compliance. In its proposal the agency suggests new technologies will make compliance possible. Sounds like a leap of faith ... off a cliff. Howard Feldman, API's director of regulatory and... more »

Here's what we're reading today:

• Shell exec concerned lawsuit could become "backdoor ban" to drilling
• Justification for stricter ozone standard questioned
• Editorial: Attack on revenue sharing proposal disingenuous
• EPA proposes air rules for hydraulic fracturing
• Oil and natural gas in Ohio's Utica shale valued at $20 billion

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As the Wall Street Journal pointed out in an editorial this week, Pennsylvania and New York are writing distinctly different chapters in a tale of shale natural gas development:

"Politicians wringing their hands over how to create more jobs might study the shale boom along the New York and Pennsylvania border. It's a case study in one state embracing economic opportunity, while the other has let environmental politics trump development."

Two states, two approaches to the natural gas-rich Marcellus shale formation that lies under portions of both. Pennsylvania:

• More than 2,000 wells drilled since 2008.
• $2.8 million in direct economic benefits from natural gas company spending on wages, payments on capital and taxes - per well - according to a Manhattan Institute study from earlier this yea... more »

Here's what we're reading today:

• Chairman: House action on revenue sharing after August recess
• Retiring ConocoPhillips chief profiled [subscription required]
• Shell makes case for drilling off Alaska
• Editorial: Hire more inspectors to move Gulf permitting along
• Shale gas finds drawing Pennsylvania natives back home

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The Environmental Protection Agency is at it again - trying to implement unrealistic regulations that will severely impact our economy and job growth.This time EPA has targeted U.S. ozone standards - also known as national ambient air quality standards, or NAAQS - two years before their scheduled review under the Clean Air Act. U.S. News World Report frames the debate:

At issue: The EPA's plan go[es] far beyond former President Bush's effort to tighten ozone standards way in advance of the planned review in 2013. It could push much of the nation into non-attainment status under the Clean Air Act, forcing major changes to improve air quality.

Just how much of the United States would be affected? The EPA's aggressive air quality proposal would likely push more than 85 percent of U.S. counti... more »