On Tuesday, Texas sued the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its rejection of the state’s proposed plan to control emissions that may drift into neighboring states.
The plan had been submitted for federal approval in compliance with the Clean Air Act, which was first put into effect in 1963 and tasked the EPA with establishing National Ambient Air Quality Standards to combat air pollution.
The authority of the EPA as a regulatory body for the protection of the environment has been an increasingly divisive and politically charged issue in recent years. This June, the Supreme Court limited the EPA’s power to regulate the carbon emissions of power plants in a 6 to 3 vote.
On February 13, the EPA rejected Texas’ plan on the basis that it provided “no permanent and enforceable emissions controls” and would not adequately reduce emissions in neighboring states such as New Mexico, per Reuters.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office released a statement charging that the EPA’s rejection of Texas’ plan was “hyper-politicized” and “opens the door for Biden’s EPA to force onto the people of Texas a federal implementation plan.”
The lawsuit was filed in the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans as State of Texas v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Attorney General Ken Paxton and Solicitor General Judd Stone will be leading Texas’ side in court. The EPA has not currently indicated who will be spearheading its case.
In total, the EPA rejected the plans submitted by 19 states, including California, Illinois, Alabama, and Oklahoma.
The EPA, attorney general’s office, and solicitor general’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment by The Dallas Express.
A joint lawsuit was also filed against the EPA in May by 17 Republican state attorneys general, as The Hill reported. It alleged that, in allowing California — unlike any other state — to set its own vehicle emissions standards, the agency violated the Constitution’s doctrine of equal sovereignty. Texas is a plaintiff in this suit as well.
Justin,
Thanks so very much for this report!
Personally, I feel that Federal Agencies are bias and use selective enforcement in order to further agendas…and that these agendas are not necessarily in the best interests of all the people.
The EPA has a sordid history of corruption and is held captive by vested interest groups.
The DOJ (Dept of Justice) lawyers provides them with unlimited legal sway.
My personal experience with the EPA is the people in control are immature and lack integrity when it comes to choosing to protect the American people. They are controlled by political pressure.