Texas Is Only State Taking No Steps To Meet New Federal Greenhouse Gas Emissions Rules

HOUSTON — Texas has refused to meet new federal greenhouse gas emission rules that go into effect in January, the latest anti-Washington move in an ongoing battle that could halt new construction at the nation's largest refineries and other industry in Texas.

The refusal to join 49 other states in agreeing to the new rules is the latest salvo from Texas in its fight with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which Gov. Rick Perry has used on the campaign trail as an example of meddling by the federal government.

"Texas has neither the authority nor the intention of interpreting, ignoring or amending its laws in order to compel the permitting of greenhouse gas emissions," said a letter to the EPA from the Texas Commission on Environment Quality and state Attorney General Greg Abbott.

The new greenhouse gas rules go into effect Jan. 2, 2011. They require the nation's largest industries to meet more stringent greenhouse gas emissions standards in new or significantly modified structures, rules that came on the heels of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2007 that greenhouse gases are pollutants that can be regulated under the Clean Air Act and a 2009 EPA finding that the gases can pose a danger to human health.

"States who don't have greenhouse gas permit programs in place by Jan. 2 – either administered by themselves or EPA – are unnecessarily subjecting their energy industry and manufacturing base to a construction ban in the state," said Bill Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Act Agencies. "The sad news is that this totally avoidable."

The EPA said in a statement the agency is focused on ensuring "businesses get the permits they need and people get the protection they deserve."

"Texas seems to have different priorities right now, but we have not yet given up on our efforts to work with them," the statement said.

The Washington-based nonprofit that acts as go-between to the EPA for nearly every state environmental regulatory agency, surveyed the states on whether they would be ready to comply with the new rules by the deadline. In a report released Thursday, the association said 49 states have either changed their laws to allow regulation of greenhouse gases or will allow the EPA to issue permits.

Texas is doing neither.

Texas, home to some of the nation's largest refineries, and 16 other states have challenged in court the EPA's that greenhouse gas emissions can be dangerous. No court has ruled on the issue.

Texas has asked the courts to delay implementation of the new standards until there is a ruling, however that has not happened yet. The TCEQ believes the EPA does not have the authority to regulate greenhouse gases and calls the new rules "illegal."

TCEQ Chairman Bryan Shaw said industry would like clarity on this issue, but he's not convinced that turning the program over to the EPA would smooth things over.

"The EPA has put businesses in the situation that we're in," Shaw said, adding that the state decided to "stand with our principles."

Howard Feldman, director of regulatory and scientific affairs at the American Petroleum Industry, the gas and oil industry's lobbying arm in Washington, laid the blame with the EPA, saying they were coercing states to allow the federal agency to regulate the new rules – which are still unclear. Allowing the federal agency permitting authority is "unprecedented," he added.

"They're just trying to do too much in a too short a time," Feldman said. "EPA ... is jeopardizing industrial expansion and putting people back to work in this country."

Becker said other states are moving ahead because if they don't, "the facilities in the end are harmed as a result of a state's unwillingness or inability to meet the Jan. 2 deadline."

Companies that go ahead with construction without permits that comply with the federal Clean Air Act could face lawsuits and fines of up to $25,000 per day, Becker said.

Comments

[cdhj12000]

12:50 PM on 11/17/2010

"Money doesn't talk, it swears"
Bob Dylan

I think that's kind of relevant to the situation of climate change, the wars in the Middle East (what are we there for anyway?), and a lot of other stuff that is messing up humanity. Hold on folks, we're in for a wild ride!

[James M Connor]

02:27 PM on 11/14/2010

Nullification is an important aspect to freedom. Texas deserves to do what is best for Texas.

[Philclock]

10:26 PM on 11/07/2010

Greenhouse gas emissions "standards", a bunch of horse buckey!

Good for Texas, standing up to the sanctimonious moralists running the government, and cramming choice-restricting policies down our throats with NO benefits, and charged to my middle schooler's already over-charged national credit card!!

[Reyeshawk13]

01:52 AM on 11/11/2010

Hope your middle schooler enjoys boating to school.

[grandfather]

01:08 PM on 11/17/2010

I you would quit getting your information from Fox and the comedians they call hosts, and start getting it from a legitimate news agency, you would know Texas is the most polluted state in the U.S. The oil lobby down there is brainwashing all of you.

[Boots in Their Snoots]

08:53 PM on 11/06/2010

If you own an automobile, park it. If you travel by airplane, find an electric airplane. If you drink bottled water in a plastic bottle, stop now. If you have your reading lamp on turn it off. The power to run your possessions is being diminished piecemeal. No drilling allowed, no refineries being built, or even expanded. How are you lefties planning to travel to see Jon Stewart next year, by riding donkeys? Don't forget your shovel, donkeys pollute too.

[Lena F Kendall]

08:03 AM on 11/03/2010

If you have ever driven thru that sad, disgusting state, with pumps lining the horizon, this wouldnt surprise you. Honestly, if you look at this in a positive, glass-half-full kind of way, if Texas should choose to break the law and not get the permits, @$25,000 a day, per pump, we should take a good bite right out of the debt that their prodigal son gave us.

And to the intelligent person below who said that global warming is like religion there is no proof and cannot be proven... There is an Inuit tribe in Alaska that observes it everyday as their home island melts..Polar Bears are losing their habitat in the Arctic... There are Manhattan size chunks of ice breaking off floating around.. The plankton fields are dwindling yearly... Should i go on? These things are easily observed and measured happening rapidly.. Texas' decision to ignore federal law, affects the global environment. An the U.S. already falls behind the rest of the world on these issues.

[getoffmedz]

07:19 PM on 11/02/2010

The "Don't Mess With Texas" motto has to do with roadside litter thrown from cars and pick-up trucks.

Other than grass fires started by cigarettes flipped from pick-up trucks the program is very effective.

; o }

[Jeanpierre Prieur]

04:29 PM on 11/01/2010

The Planet is coming first in California! Texas people should think more green... Why is people making babies if they do not care about their future?
Your green architect http://www.leapadaptive.com/ who build green home for the future generation!

[JohnDrake6]

04:14 PM on 11/01/2010

Same old, same old.

Back in the 80's a researcher for the Texas Air Quality Board, who was studying data from before and after federally-imposed requirements to improve Texas air quality, told me that some state officials were hoping the data would show that there had been no improvement --so that it would appear that the Feds' regulatory intrusions had been fruitless and the state's industries could resume their polluting ways.

[Rooster Coburn]

05:03 PM on 11/01/2010

The belief in human induced catastrophic global warming is more like a religion than it is a science.

[mamacat]

08:38 PM on 11/01/2010

religion: believing in things that can't be observed, faith that superstitions explain reality.

science: studying through observation and testing hypotheses to develop theories so as to better understand the observation data. Global warming is an observation, not a religion. The conclusion that recent human activity is responsible for the sudden spike in observed global warming is based on the use of scientific methods, not faith.

[Lena F Kendall]

08:07 AM on 11/03/2010

There is an Inuit tribe in Alaska that observes it everyday as their home island melts..Polar Bears are losing their habitat in the Arctic... There are Manhattan size chunks of ice breaking off floating around.. The plankton fields are dwindling yearly... Should i go on? These things are easily observed and measured happening rapidly.. Texas' decision to ignore federal law, affects the global environment. An the U.S. already falls behind the rest of the world on these issues.
Religion is absolutely unprovable (im not saying its bad or there is no god, just unprovable) whereas Global warming can be measured by studying different factors scenarios, etc. It's willful ignorance to believe otherwise.

[texfly]

03:15 PM on 11/01/2010

The API doesn't want you to know that a totally electric car will have fuel costs 1/4-th that of a 25 mpg gasoline car and 1/2 of that for a 50 mpg car.

[texfly]

02:57 PM on 11/01/2010

Sorry to say that I'm a Texan ... but I voted for White. Don't know if he'll be any different than Perry in this arena. Most Texans are oblivious to or in denial of the CO2 contribution to climate change. What is ironic is that Texas leads the nation in deployment of wind turbines -- go figure!

I suspect that the quotes from the American Petroleum Institute are loaded with self-serving propaganda to keep oil flow for as long as possible. I doubt that in the oil companies have lost one drop of oil demand in the recent economic conditions. If we wanted to create jobs, a massive shift from fossil fuel energy to renewable energy would do the trick. Yes, people would have to change jobs and relocate and that will create pain. But that pain is certainly easier than no job at all. Indeed, Texas will lead the way in pain, but as a state it is probably one the best overall in resources for wind and solar. Suffering should be minimal.

[Lena F Kendall]

08:16 AM on 11/03/2010

I have been saying that for years, but the climbing global warming crisis feeds their bottom dollar, as does the laws.. By dragging out the process of becoming more energy conscious, they rise their prices to cover that, then when they are finally forced to comply, they can raise them yet again.. The consumer pays for it with the higher costs of vehicles with better tech and the globe pays with a major polluter; all the while if they would comply and do some major R&D projects, they would save and make money simultaneously, create jobs and boost the economy. but I guess doing that takes too much thought.
btw F&F

[getoffmedz]

12:53 PM on 11/01/2010

In Texas, they call pollution "OZONE."

[janie@atthelake]

08:52 AM on 11/01/2010

Ten years of Rick Perry.................Ughh. If you know of anyone in Texas urge them to vote for Bill White tomorrow.

[plan-uts]

11:48 AM on 11/01/2010

Bill White was a lousy mayor in Houston, he would be a worst Governor.

[NavyMom44]

04:20 PM on 11/01/2010

You do not live in Houston or if you do you are so brainwashed by the party of no you will vote against your family.

[PatA]

06:39 PM on 11/01/2010

Show me some proof that Bill White was a lousy mayor in House.

[jacobomorales]

07:21 AM on 11/01/2010

The only thing bigger than Texas is their appalling ignorance of which they are so proud of. To be white, ignorant and proud of it.

[plan-uts]

11:49 AM on 11/01/2010

You are a bigot and racist.

[BrandonAbell]

01:52 PM on 11/01/2010

Based on what, exactly? He seems to have just summarized the 2010 census data on good ol' Baja Oklahoma.

[StephenBP]

06:09 AM on 11/01/2010

(Cue up warm, soft, seductive, female voice...)
"Some would have you believe that carbon dioxide is a pollutant, and that your body exhales it as a waste product of energy production. Nothing could be further from the truth. Carbon dioxide is a perfectly safe odorless colorless gas that plants need to grow, and we all know that we could not live without plants. So the next time some sadly misinformed person tells you that carbon dioxide is a toxic gas tell them... Oh no! Carbon dioxide is necessary for life and is absoluttely no threat to anyone!"

(Cue up hyperventilating tobacco auctioneer on stimulants).
" Carbon dioxide is totally safe when used correctly to increase fossil fuel company profits and consumer wallet-ectomies. Carbon dioxide should not be used as a substituted for air. Carbon dioxide at two and a half times the current atmospheric levels begins to cause adverse reactions in sensitive individuals. People with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary disease, weak lungs, lung cancer, or who otherwise have difficulty breathing should not breath excess carbon dioxide.

[StephenBP]

06:08 AM on 11/01/2010

(Hypercapnia or hypercapnea (from the Greek hyper = "above" and kapnos = "smoke"), also known as hypercarbia, is a condition where there is too much carbon dioxide (CO2) in the blood. Carbon dioxide is a gaseous product of the body's metabolism and is normally expelled through the lungs.
Hypercapnia normally triggers a reflex which increases breathing and access to oxygen, such as arousal and turning the head during sleep. A failure of this reflex can be fatal, as in sudden infant death syndrome.
Symptoms and signs of early hypercapnia include flushed skin, full pulse, tachypnea, dyspnoea, extrasystoles, muscle twitches, hand flaps, reduced neural activity, and possibly a raised blood pressure. According to other sources, symptoms of mild hypercapnia might include headache, confusion and lethargy. Hypercapnia can induce increased cardiac output, an elevation in arterial blood pressure, and a propensity toward arrhythmias. In severe hypercapnia (generally PaCO2 greater than 10 kPa or 75 mmHg), symptomatology progresses to disorientation, panic, hyperventilation, convulsions, unconsciousness, and eventually death.