82R4524 BPG-F
By: Fraser S.C.R. No. 20
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The business climate in Texas has been consistently
ranked as the best in the United States, and the state's economy
regularly outpaces the rest of the nation; and
WHEREAS, Texas produces approximately 60 percent of all
chemicals manufactured in the United States, as well as 30 percent
of the nation's natural gas and 20 percent of its oil; in addition,
the state leads the nation in overall electricity production, and
its competitive wholesale power market is among the most robust and
demand-responsive in the country; and
WHEREAS, The manufacturing sector contributes $96 billion
annually to the Texas economy and employs more than one million
Texans at some of the highest salaries in the state; the continued
economic health of the state is dependent on this vital sector, and
Texas is competing globally to protect existing business investment
and attract new jobs; and
WHEREAS, Texas has not been immune to the global economic
recession; over the past two years, some manufacturers have shut
down and there have been significant job losses; yet in spite of
this challenging business climate, the Environmental Protection
Agency has moved forward with the regulation of greenhouse gas
emissions from stationary sources such as refineries, chemical
plants, power plants, and other commercial establishments; and
WHEREAS, The EPA claims that greenhouse gas emissions are air
pollutants under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act, but that act
was designed to regulate conventional pollutants, such as ozone and
particulate matter, that create local air quality problems, and not
unconventional pollutants, such as greenhouse gases, which are
found in essentially equal concentrations around the globe; in
formulating its plan to regulate greenhouse gases, the EPA failed
to identify cost-effective technology to meet the demands of such
regulation and instead invoked the legal doctrine of "absurd
results," essentially admitting that implementing the new rules
would overwhelm the administrative capabilities of state
permitting authorities and the agency itself; and
WHEREAS, Congress and the scientific community continue to
engage in vigorous, legitimate, and substantive debate regarding
the regulation of greenhouse gases; meanwhile, the EPA has acted on
its own to institute a backdoor regulatory regime, an abuse of power
with serious implications; these regulations are projected to cost
Texas more than 300,000 jobs because of increased energy prices,
compliance with required greenhouse gas permit conditions, and
greater competition from overseas manufacturers that have lower
energy costs; furthermore, as it has communicated to the EPA, the
State of Texas does not have the legal authority to regulate
greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources in the manner
proposed by the EPA; and
WHEREAS, The EPA's regulation of greenhouse gas emissions
from stationary sources will prove highly detrimental to the
manufacturing and energy sectors in an already struggling economy
and will cause additional job losses that the nation can ill afford;
now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 82nd Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to take
such actions as are necessary to prevent the Environmental
Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from
stationary sources; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
the EPA administrator, to the president of the Senate and speaker of
the House of Representatives of the United States Congress, and to
all the members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request
that this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.