The following article by Patrick Gleason, ATR's Director of State Affairs, was published in The Daily Caller this morning:
Much of the current focus on the EPA these days surrounds its move to be the largest regulator of the nation’s economy by treating carbon as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act. As controversial and arduous a task as that may be, it hasn’t precluded the agency from finding time to go after the most prosperous state in the nation. After years of threatening to do so, the EPA recently announced plans to take over Texas’ air quality permitting system.
Since 1994, Texas has operated under a flex permitting system whereby overall emission caps are established for power plants and petrochemical facilities in the state. The caps are applied to each facility as a whole and it is up to management to abide by these limits. The system has served Texas well, improving air quality during a time in which the state has experience rapid economic and population growth. Sounds like a model that federal officials would hold up for other states to consider, right? Not so much.
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