A Biden-era climate change regulation has been blocked in Texas following a 2023 lawsuit by Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s rule attempted to force Texas to comply with the federal government’s goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050.
Specifically, the rule would require the Texas Department of Transportation to create a system to record and report declining carbon dioxide emissions connected with transportation. TxDOT would also have been forced to develop its own target that complied with the federal government’s goal for 2050.
In December 2023, Paxton sued the federal government, arguing that the DOT does not have the statutory authority to implement the rule. The attorney general also posited that it violated the Administrative Procedure Act.
He argued in March 2024 that the rule should be vacated nationwide, leading to a successful court decision. DOT leadership under the Biden administration appealed that decision.
However, the appeal was dismissed by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
“This is a major win for Texas and America,” said Paxton. “Working in partnership with President Trump, all of the Biden Administration’s unlawful regulations and blatant examples of federal overreach will be completely reversed.”
“The greenhouse gas emissions reporting regulation violated federal law and imposed arbitrary burdens on the States,” he continued. “The nationwide vacatur I obtained undoing Biden’s unlawful rule will remain in place.”
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