Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SCR20 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Fraser S.C.R. No. 20
2	2	(In the Senate - Filed February 23, 2011;
3	3	February 28, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on
4	4	Natural Resources; March 23, 2011, reported favorably by the
5	5	following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; March 23, 2011, sent to printer.)
6	6
7	7
8	8	SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
9	9	WHEREAS, The business climate in Texas has been consistently
10	10	ranked as the best in the United States, and the state's economy
11	11	regularly outpaces the rest of the nation; and
12	12	WHEREAS, Texas produces approximately 60 percent of all
13	13	chemicals manufactured in the United States, as well as 30 percent
14	14	of the nation's natural gas and 20 percent of its oil; in addition,
15	15	the state leads the nation in overall electricity production, and
16	16	its competitive wholesale power market is among the most robust and
17	17	demand-responsive in the country; and
18	18	WHEREAS, The manufacturing sector contributes $96 billion
19	19	annually to the Texas economy and employs more than one million
20	20	Texans at some of the highest salaries in the state; the continued
21	21	economic health of the state is dependent on this vital sector, and
22	22	Texas is competing globally to protect existing business investment
23	23	and attract new jobs; and
24	24	WHEREAS, Texas has not been immune to the global economic
25	25	recession; over the past two years, some manufacturers have shut
26	26	down and there have been significant job losses; yet in spite of
27	27	this challenging business climate, the Environmental Protection
28	28	Agency has moved forward with the regulation of greenhouse gas
29	29	emissions from stationary sources such as refineries, chemical
30	30	plants, power plants, and other commercial establishments; and
31	31	WHEREAS, The Environmental Protection Agency claims that
32	32	greenhouse gas emissions are air pollutants under Section 202(a) of
33	33	the Clean Air Act, but that act was designed to regulate
34	34	conventional pollutants, such as ozone and particulate matter, that
35	35	create local air quality problems, and not unconventional
36	36	pollutants, such as greenhouse gases, which are found in
37	37	essentially equal concentrations around the globe; in formulating
38	38	its plan to regulate greenhouse gases, the Environmental Protection
39	39	Agency failed to identify cost-effective technology to meet the
40	40	demands of such regulation and instead invoked the legal doctrine
41	41	of "absurd results," essentially admitting that implementing the
42	42	new rules would overwhelm the administrative capabilities of state
43	43	permitting authorities and the agency itself; and
44	44	WHEREAS, Congress and the scientific community continue to
45	45	engage in vigorous, legitimate, and substantive debate regarding
46	46	the regulation of greenhouse gases; meanwhile, the Environmental
47	47	Protection Agency has acted on its own to institute a backdoor
48	48	regulatory regime, an abuse of power with serious implications;
49	49	these regulations are projected to cost Texas more than 300,000
50	50	jobs because of increased energy prices, compliance with required
51	51	greenhouse gas permit conditions, and greater competition from
52	52	overseas manufacturers that have lower energy costs; furthermore,
53	53	as it has communicated to the Environmental Protection Agency, the
54	54	State of Texas does not have the legal authority to regulate
55	55	greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources in the manner
56	56	proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency; and
57	57	WHEREAS, The Environmental Protection Agency's regulation of
58	58	greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources will prove highly
59	59	detrimental to the manufacturing and energy sectors in an already
60	60	struggling economy and will cause additional job losses that the
61	61	nation can ill afford; now, therefore, be it
62	62	RESOLVED, That the 82nd Legislature of the State of Texas
63	63	hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to take
64	64	such actions as are necessary to prevent the Environmental
65	65	Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from
66	66	stationary sources; and, be it further
67	67	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
68	68	copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
69	69	the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, to the
70	70	president of the Senate and speaker of the House of Representatives
71	71	of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the Texas
72	72	delegation to Congress with the request that this resolution be
73	73	entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of
74	74	the United States of America.
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