Thursday, August 5, 2010

Texas tells EPA to go screw themselves

Well, not quite. But in the world of state-federal diplomacy, that's the blunt import of Texas' response to the EPA's attempt to impose regulation of greenhouse gases on the states.

From Strata-Sphere:
I have *never* read an official government document that is this bitter and contemptuous of the Federal level – I never thought I would! This is damn close to a new Declaration of Independance.

I’ll reprint a few excerpts, because William Travis himself would be proud of these words:
“In order to deter challenges to your plan for centralized control of industrial development through the issuance of permits for greenhouse gases, you have called upon each state to declare its allegiance to the Environmental Protection Agency’s recently enacted greenhouse gas regulations — regulations that are plainly contrary to United States law.”

“On behalf of the state of Texas, we write to inform you that 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.
Read the rest here.

Read the actual Texas response letter here. Texas uses really strong language to express its disapproval of EPA's actions. Another reason to like Texas.

Basically, Texas asserts that the EPA is trying to do an end run around federal law and its own regulations to regulate greenhouse gases, and is trying to bully the states into accepting the EPA's position. Let's hope other states also tell the FedGov to shove it.

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