The folks in the Great State of Texas are entering the ring, to fight with the Federal government and it isn’t about immigration. The folks over at Energy Watch have been watching the developments pretty closely so, they are not surprised by the latest.
It’s no secret the Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality are at odds with each other right now. But the language in a letter from Attorney General Greg Abbott and TCEQ head Bryan Shaw complaining about EPA’s efforts to regulate greenhouse gases via the Clean Air Act gets pretty snarky.
How snarky is it getting? Well…
Inorder 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. 75 Fed. Reg. 31,514, 31,525&. 31,582 (June 3, 2010) (hereinafter, the “Tailoring Rule”).
To encourage acquiescence with your unsupported findings you threaten to usurp state enforcement authority and to federalize the permitting program of any state that fails to pledge their fealty to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
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.
So, I am not really keeping score but I am starting to look at some trends:
- Montana (and others) are asserting that firearms manufactured and sold in that state are not subject the Federal law.
- Arizona (and others) are asserting that the Federal government cannot address immigration as they are required to, by law. So the state will help out a bit.
- Virginia (and others) are asserting that Obamacare is unconstitutional in the courts.
- Missouri just voted to “opt out” of Obamacare.
- Texas is asserting their sovereignty as it applies to EPA rules.
I think a day or two ago, someone mentioned “pre-revolutionary”. November elections are going to be interesting.