A statement issued today by Attorney General Greg Abbott says the EPA’s efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions by “timing” and “tailoring” are unlawful and unconstitutional.
“In a brief filed on behalf of nine states, Attorney General Abbott challenged the EPA’s Timing and Tailoring rules, which are two in a series of rules that improperly attempt to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the federal Clean Air Act.”
This comes after a series of attacks against EPA greenhouse gas regulations by the Texas Legislature this year including trying to overturn a finding that greenhouse gasses are dangerous and saying the EPA shouldn't be regulating greenhouse gasses.
The EPA's greenhouse gas tailoring rules require that power plants, industrial boilers, cement production facilities and oil refineries responsible for 70% of the national greenhouse gas emissions will have to follow permit guidelines. Small farms and restaurants will not be affected by this regulation, only larger commercial facilities.
Abbott's statement says the EPA's tailoring rule simply ignores the permitting thresholds established by the Clean Air Act and replaces them with criteria of the EPA's own making.