For many years, Wyoming lawmakers have been reluctant to impose new regulations on industry. At the national level, the congressional delegation has been highly critical anytime the Environmental Protection Agency proposes new regulations on energy production, saying that it costs jobs.
State leaders have echoed those statements, and over the years many legislators have even expressed concern about adding staff to the Department of Environmental Quality, fearing that it could lead to over regulation.
In many cases, the thinking is that if you add regulations and make it tougher for industry to operate, industry will leave. So we asked economist Roger Coupal at UW’s Department of Ag and Applied Economics, whether that’s true.