Posted on 07/13/2011 1:39:57 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
The unique way Texas regulates air pollution from refineries, chemical plants and other major industries is no more — for now.
The EPA said Tuesday all 136 industrial plants with state-issued permits that do not meet federal Clean Air Act requirements have agreed to apply for new ones.
The announcement comes one year after the federal agency rejected Texas' use of so-called flexible permits. But the dispute is not over, because state officials and at least 10 industry groups are challenging the EPA's actions in federal court.
Gov. Rick Perry and other Texas officials have said the EPA was threatening jobs by forcing permit changes at the facilities, including some of the largest refineries in the nation.
Al Armendariz, the EPA's regional administrator for Texas, said the companies are converting their permits without any job losses.
"We're really happy," he said. "All the permit holders have agreed to get federally compliant permits, and we've done it without any economic disruption."
[snip]
The permits in question require refineries, chemical plants and other facilities to meet an overall emissions cap but allows them to choose how to do so. Federal rules, however, require plants to limit emissions of certain pollutants from each source within a facility.
[snip]
While Texas officials and industry continue to defend flexible permits, "the real proof is in the pudding," said Ilan Levin, an attorney for the Environmental Integrity Project. "It shows that Texas industry understands that these flexible permits are too risky for them."
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
CHOP CHOP
Related. The National Academy of Sciences tells the EPA to get it’s science right or risk irrelevance.
Interesting...
Thanks!
We'll see if you're still happy after their inspections are concluded...
Weasel words. I'm assured they weren't given an option.
Well , I will just say that I have involvement with this process, and the EPA agreement was based on EPA basically pointing a gun at our head.
Armendariz also is too ignorant to realize that the impacts of EPA’s stupidity often has delayed effects. No job losses? Just wait......
I suppose it is never going to happen, but Texas needs to point the guns in the other direction and reject and disrupt EPA operations in Texas and let Obama know who has the energy whip hand. Otherwise, the regulatory agencies will be used to completely subjugate the US into Obama's new Amerika dream.
Texas officials have said the EPA was threatening jobs by forcing permit changes at the facilities, including some of the largest refineries in the nation.
Another Obama&Co. or else on the march.Democrats are killing this country.
True Obama&Co. will not stand for any state to have economic success.New rules,fines,fees to ensue.
Ilan Levin, an attorney for the Environmental Integrity Project. “It shows that Texas industry understands that these flexible permits are too risky for them.”
EPA’s big stick looms threateningly, some choice.
Nothing says communist authority more than the EPA.
Jobs were not lost (this week).
Other states are speaking up against decades of strangling federal environmental laws. Who better than Rick Perry to take the states' rights message to Obama in 2012?
MONTANA: Legal gamesmanship threatens our energy future “Texas Gov. Rick Perry is able to boast about job growth under his watch, noting that over 265,000 jobs, or nearly 37 percent of the jobs created nationwide since the summer of 2009, have been created in the Lone Star state.
He credits this growth to a few simple conditions: low taxes, a regulatory climate that is fair and predictable, and a legal system that limits frivolous lawsuits. According to the Wall Street Journal, nearly one-fourth of the 70 companies that left California this year relocated to Texas.
When new or relocating companies and investors survey the landscape and consider Montana, what do they see? Well, when it comes to natural-resource development, the landscape looks risky…….”
**********
On September 7, 2007 [wide ranging speech] Perry gave a speech to California Republicans
..............."Here again we see how little faith the Left has in the people. It’s as if the mere mention of God is so compelling that it might influence their atheist friends to start believing in something besides themselves. But whatever happened to reasoned discourse…to children in schools being exposed to different cultures and different faith traditions?
If they are so proud of their secular humanist worldview, why won’t they allow the simple-minded views of the uneducated masses to be lined up next to their philosophy of self…and all its wisdom…and just let the people decide?
And since when did the field of science become the sole purview of left-wing politicians? I don’t know about you, but I’ve heard Al Gore talk about man-made global warming so much that I’m starting to think that his mouth is the leading source of all that supposedly deadly carbon dioxide.
"Virtually every day another scientist leaves the global warming bandwagon. ... But you won't read about that in the press because they have already invested in one side of the story."
[snip]
"The terrorist element in the Middle East hates our way of life. And even with the battle raging in Iraq and Afghanistan, we cannot turn a blind eye to the regime in Iran that would obliterate the only democracy in the Middle East if they had a chance. And it’s no big secret that Iranian arms and know-how are finding their way across the border into Iraq, threatening the lives of our allies and, more importantly, our own fighting men and women."..............
Bump!
Bump!
Bush punted it into the next administration but notified Perry that Texas would be out of conformance when the next prez implemented it.
Perry and the TX GOP knew Democrat Mayor White would be running for higher office so they decided not to do anything and use it as a campaign issue against White.
Then in Dec 2010, after White had lost the election for Texas Gov, Perry decided to continue using the issue for campaign reasons.
Because of this, we have known since Dec that Perry would likely run for prez.
It’s a STRONG issue to run on.
Not necessarily. As the article points out, it benefited only 136 very, very large emitters who also contribute very, very large campaign funds to the Perry and the GOP.
OTOH, there is an uncountable number of businesses that have to live with the regs that apply to each of them with out this or any other benefit.
Some of them resent it and some of them worry that Perry's actions are going to bring the EPA down on them.
Bottom line, these companies in Texas and the rest of the US were able to delay it for 20 years.
Did you know that the infamously evil Koch Brothers' refinery was one of the first to go around Perry and deal directly with EPA to get their permits in order.
A perfect example of “regulatory uncertainty” because a permit that can be granted today can be ungranted the next time it must be applied for.
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