An Austin American-Statesman article elucidates upon the latest front on the Obama War on Texas. It begins this way: “In a letter dated Oct. 20, 1994, the director of a Texas environmental research group accused the state environmental agency of turning “Texas’ well-established and fairly effective air quality permitting system upside down.”
“The adoption of a proposed flexible permitting program “could very well throw the whole air permitting and enforcement system into chaos,” wrote Mary Kelly, executive director of the Texas Center for Policy Studies.
“Only a couple of weeks later, George W. Bush was elected governor, and that spring, the flexible permitting program — which created overall emissions caps for regulated power plants and refineries, rather than caps on individual sources, such as a boiler, within facilities — was finalized at the state environmental agency.”
That alarm ringing environmental disaster predictor was just another opponent of economic growth and Texas freedom. For the environmentalists, there is never improvement enough because that’s not really their goal.
All you have to do is look at the data and you’ll find that along with large economic growth in Texas since 1994, air quality is no worse in Texas – even with that massive growth. Nowhere in the article, which goes on to give the environmentalist position, do they cite numbers proving their position that flexible permitting has hurt the Texas environment. If such numbers existed, would those numbers not be trumpeted as proof that Texas’ policies are harmful?
As usual, it’s all just scare tactics. Clearly this is simply about Federal control and Obama’s War on Texas.
Robert Pratt is host of the top rated Pratt on Texas radio program which can be heard at www.PrattonTexas.com
