More punishment for the “Middle Class”

They’d have us paying $10 per gallon if they could find a way. And if they didn’t think there would be fuel riots because of it.

The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday finalized new rules that would impose a dramatic reduction in sulfur in gasoline and tailpipe emissions, as the oil and gas industry warned the regulations would lead to more pain at the pump.

In the works for years, the rules require refineries to cut sulfur levels in gasoline by about two-thirds by 2017. Less sulfur in gasoline makes it easier for a car’s pollution controls to effectively filter out emissions, resulting in cleaner air, the EPA says. For car manufacturers, stricter limits on tailpipe emissions will require engineering changes so that cars weed out more pollution.

“The benefits far outweigh the costs,” EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said. “These standards will reduce pollution, they’ll clean the air we breathe and protect the health of American families.”

…..

The EPA claimed the cost to consumers would be less than a penny per gallon of gas; the EPA projects the rules will raise the average cost of buying a vehicle by $72 in 2025.

But the American Petroleum Institute pointed to studies it has commissioned estimating that the limits would actually add 6 cents to 9 cents a gallon to refiners’ manufacturing costs while requiring $10 billion in capital costs. American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, a trade group, called it “the most recent example of the agency’s propensity for illogical and counterproductive rulemaking.”

It is as if their boss has given them carte blanche to do whatever they want or something.

Taking them to SCOTUS didn’t seem to even phase them.