The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) issued a comment in its newsletter about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final rule requiring mandatory greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions monitoring under the Clean Air Act announced last week: “We need to come up with a solution to climate change that keeps the manufacturing sector and valuable manufacturing jobs here in America. Because of our long-standing commitment to making the highest-quality steel with the lightest carbon footprint, America’s steel industry will be part of the solution to the climate challenge.” According to AISI, as far as limiting carbon emissions, the United States is the best place to make steel compared to other parts of the world.

AISI noted that steel led the way among eight industrial sectors examined according to the EPA’s own 2008 sector strategies report. AISI also cited a report released Oct. 1 by the Economic Policy Institute, which stated that more than four million jobs could be at risk if U.S. climate-change legislation does not include a tariff on goods imported from countries that do not adopt similar emissions standards.