One gets used to disappointments with Rick Perry.
In late 2007, the appointment of Bryan Shaw, a Texas A&M professor and air pollution expert, to the three-member board that oversees the state’s environmental agency drew praise from a prominent government watchdog.
Tom “Smitty” Smith said then that Gov. Rick Perry’s selection “has lots of the skills and talents needed to figure out the impacts of air pollution across the state. Overall, I’m encouraged that this appears to be a very well-qualified commissioner.”
That was 19 months ago. This is now.
“His eyes are so clouded by the pollution in Texas that he couldn’t see a fact in front of him,” said Smith, director of the Texas chapter of Public Citizen.
In his short tenure, Shaw has rankled environmentalists who had hoped that a fresh day dawned with a scientist on the dais of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality — a frequent target of complaints over its stewardship of the state’s air and water.
As a commissioner, Shaw has sided with industry in some bitter permit disputes, advocated free-market approaches to solving pollution problems and supported the governor’s sharp criticism of potential federal regulation of climate-altering gases.
Quelle surprise, no? That’s our Governor for you, always meeting our low expectations of him. For more on Shaw, see Floor Pass and Sen. Kirk Watson’s statement in opposition to Shaw’s nomination to the TCEQ.
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