Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton fired off a pair of lawsuits against the Biden administration recently, seeking to block potentially damaging policies that could have an impact on the Lone Star State.
In the first suit, Paxton took aim at a new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule that would change the national ambient air quality standard for specific materials.
“Strengthened standards will result in significant public health net benefits that could be as high as $46 billion in 2032. Health benefits will include up to 4,500 avoided premature deaths, 800,000 avoided cases of asthma symptoms, and 290,000 avoided lost workdays (in 2032),” the EPA claims.
Paxton challenged the science behind the new rule in his petition to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
“This new rule improperly imposes a huge burden with no scientific basis,” Paxton said in a Friday press release. “I will always use every available avenue to block Biden’s extremist climate agenda, especially when federal policy undermines Texas industry and destroys Texas jobs.”
The attorney general also sued the Biden administration over another new EPA rule that would require the oil and gas industry, much of which is based in Texas, to “drastically” update its infrastructure to comply with “onerous” emission standard guidelines.
“The EPA is once again trying to seize regulatory authority that Congress has not granted,” Paxton claimed, per a different press release the same day. “I am challenging this blatant overreach by the Biden Administration and will continue to defend vital sectors of the Texas economy.”
This rule mandates that industry firms reduce the emission of methane from existing and future operation sources.
“Methane is a climate ‘super pollutant’ that is more potent than carbon dioxide and is responsible for approximately one-third of current warming resulting from human activities. Rapid, sharp cuts in methane can generate near-immediate climate benefits and are a crucial addition to cutting carbon dioxide in slowing the rate of warming of Earth’s atmosphere,” the EPA claimed.
Paxton also filed this suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
