There was a time when stuff like this would have surprised me. But then, there was a time when being anti-science wasn’t a point of pride for the Republican Party.
Texas on Tuesday became the first state to challenge the Environmental Protection Agency’s finding that gases blamed for global warming threaten public health.
Gov. Rick Perry and other Texas officials said the federal finding is based on flawed science and would harm the state’s economy.
The EPA issued the finding two months ago in an attempt to regulate carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases as pollutants under the Clean Air Act.
Such rules would have a profound impact on Texas, which pumps more carbon dioxide into the air than any other state because of its scores of coal-fired power plants, refineries and other industrial facilities.
“The EPA’s misguided plan paints a big target on the backs of Texas agriculture and energy producers and the hundreds of thousands of Texans they employ,” Perry said in a statement. “This legal action is being taken to protect the Texas economy and the jobs that go with it, as well as defend Texas’ freedom to continue our successful environmental strategies free from federal overreach.”
Texas asked the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., to review the finding, with its petition coming on the heels of similar filings by business and conservative groups.
There are many things about which Rick Perry and the state of Texas is officially indifferent, ranging from food stamps to getting a complete Census count and on and on. But when business and conservative groups say “Sue!”, he’s right there to reply “Which court?” I believe this effort will go nowhere and will waste a lot of money in the process, but it will keep Perry’s base happy, and that’s what really matters. BOR, SciGuy, Rep. Mike Villarreal, and Texas Vox have more.
The Texas decision to sue the US about climate change regulations guarantees that climate change will be an important issue in this year’s governor race. That is a good thing.
Especially because Texas consumes more oil, coal and natural gas than any other state. (If Texas were a nation, we would be the 7th largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world).
I’m sorry Robert, are you actually writing from Texas, where a third of the population thinks the Flintstones was a documentary?
Brown Bess, you’re right; the problem is one of basic ignorance. Up until now climate change has stayed off the radar of news media and political campaigns. This can continue no longer.
I would be happy if just powertochoose website were more widely known.
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