A new study commissioned by Harvard and Syracuse University says the health benefits of forthcoming EPA regulations are nothing to sneeze at. The researchers claim the Clean Power Plan, which the administration is polishing up for a summer release, can eliminate roughly 3,500 pollution-related deaths annually — fairly close to the EPA’s own estimate. According to CBS News, “The study’s authors examined 2,417 power plants and used computer models to project and track their emissions.” Would those be the same models alarmists use to justify radical environmental policy? Just 5% of 90 assorted climate models at least semi-accurately forecasted long-term temperature trends, according to a study by climatologist Dr. Roy Spencer. Not that the Left is paying attention anyway. Just a few months ago, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy told a Senate panel, “I do not know what the models actually are predicting.” And why should she? “[O]n the whole,” McCarthy added, “it makes no difference to the validity and the robustness of climate science that is telling us that we are facing an absolute challenge that we must address.” It makes a difference when the “climate science” is wrong. And it matters when those policies inflict the same side effects alarmists purportedly seek to alleviate.

Responding to the study, Laura Sheehan with the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity said, “This is more than just an academic exercise to the tens of millions of Americans who depend on affordable, reliable electricity to power their homes and places of work every day. For them, this is about their livelihoods. Coal provides nearly 40 percent of the nation’s electricity and its use is becoming cleaner all the time. And while these academics are hypothesizing about unprovable consequences, what’s known is that families are struggling to pay their monthly bills and companies are struggling to stay in business — and any increase in energy costs will unnecessarily burden them.” Put another way: How many millions of Americans’ health will be put at risk because of the EPA’s power grab? More…