By: Fraser S.C.R. No. 20
(In the Senate - Filed February 23, 2011;
February 28, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on
Natural Resources; March 23, 2011, reported favorably by the
following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; March 23, 2011, sent to printer.)
SENATE 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 Environmental Protection Agency 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 Environmental Protection
Agency 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 Environmental
Protection Agency 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 Environmental Protection Agency, the
State of Texas does not have the legal authority to regulate
greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources in the manner
proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency; and
WHEREAS, The Environmental Protection Agency'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 administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, 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.
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