The state of Texas today
sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in a federal appeals court
in Washington DC, claiming four new regulations imposed by the EPA are
based on the 'thoroughly discredited' findings of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change and are 'factually flawed,' 1200 WOAI news
reports.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott says the rules are illegal and if
imposed, will cost Texans in higher energy costs and tens of thousands of
lost jobs.
"The state explained that the IPCC, and therefore the EPA, relied on
flawed science to conclude that greenhouse emissions endanger public
health and welfare," Abbott said. "Because the Administration predicated
its Endangerment Finding on the IPCC's questionable facts, the state is
seeking to prevent the EPA's new rules, and the economic harm that will
result from these regulations, from being imposed on
Texas employers, workers, and
enforcement agencies."
The IPCC has become the target of criticism from other climate
scientists, with numerous revelations of sloppy research, junk science,
and allegations of cronyism, lack of transparency, and attempts to
suppress contradictory opinions in the research which contributed to the
IPCC's 2007 findings.
"The IPCC had the objectivity, reliability, and propriety of its
scientific assessments called into question after a scandal erupted late
last year," Abbott said.
One of the rules imposed by the EPA would extend clean air regulations
to the tailpipes of personal cars and trucks, but Abbott says the
pollutants which the EPA aims to restrict by this rule aren't even found
in internal combustion vehicles.
One of the rules, the so called 'Tailoring Rule,' would require that all
Texas clean air regulations be 'tailored' to match federal rules by
January 2, 2011, or the US EPA will impose it's rules on Texas.
"Today's court filings challenge the EPA's attempts to ignore federal
law, impose their federally mandated deadlines and force
Texas to spend millions of
dollars advancing the Administration’s regulatory agenda," Abbott said.