Haven’t we seen this movie before?
In the state’s first lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2016, Texas is suing the agency for rejecting parts of a seven-year-old state proposal to reduce haze in wilderness areas.
The EPA rejected portions of the plan in January, citing concerns that it did not adequately address requirements of the agency’s Regional Haze Rule, which regulates the air in natural areas in Texas and Oklahoma.
“Texas already has a plan that meets the standards of the Clean Air Act, however, once again, the Obama Administration is misinterpreting and misusing federal agencies to force through a radical agenda based more on the beliefs of his environmentalist base than on common sense,” said Attorney General Ken Paxton in a statement.
The petition for review – the state’s 24th legal action against the EPA since Obama took office in 2009 – was filed in the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday.
The Regional Haze Rule was proposed by the EPA to clean up the air at wilderness areas and national parks. Regulations for Texas include the Guadalupe Mountains National Park east of El Paso and Big Bend National Park on the Texas and Mexico border.
Do the particulars of this case even matter? It’s the same song, 24th verse. Even “Amazing Grace” isn’t that long. It is what it is, and the good news is that past history suggests that the state will lose. Again. The Scoop Blog has more.