If I had a nickel every time we put out a statement saying something along the lines of “Governor Perry is blowing hot air about climate change”…I could probably only really buy a candy bar. Or a coke — a Mexican coke in a bottle, preferably, to be drunk as I eat a fried avocado taco on a Friday afternoon (mmm, thanks Perry).
But this week our dear Gov was at it again. Tuesday morning he joined Attorney General Greg Abbott and Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples to announce a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency’s(EPA) endangerment finding for carbon dioxide. We had plenty to say about it, which has already been posted this week, but I think that I like the way Forrest Wilder over at the Texas Observer put it best:
Perry is up to his neck in pseudo-scientific gobbledygook and he’s bringing Attorney General Abbott and Ag Commissioner Todd Staples along with him. The (“frivolous“) lawsuit today is neither a legal nor scientific document. It is a political one: poorly-reasoned, poorly-sourced and containing enough tin-foil hat conspiracies to block a Mexican border blaster.
Check out his blog post for the nitty gritty on the legal brief (“filled with footnotes, giving the appearance that it’s been carefully researched. But on closer inspection many of the references are to rightwing blogs, “studies” by armchair climate analysts, and obscure anti-climate groups like the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition.”)
Luckily we heard about Perry’s press announcement with just enough time to sweep in and have the last word. Officing 3 blocks from the capitol does have its perks. Along with Sierra Club, we were able to stake out a good spot outside the Governor’s Press Room and hold an impromptu reaction press conference by the West Trashcan. With members of the press gathered around, Smitty (our director, of course!) and Eva Hernandez from Sierra Club gave statements crying foul on the Governor’s tomfoolery, and even issued a symbolic “citizen’s citation” to Perry for endangering the health of Texans and the climate. Perry didn’t come out to accept it himself, but did send a policy aide in his honor. Good thing too; we were worried we’d have to slip it under his locked and barred door (not exactly the climactic press moment we were looking for). Check out the video though, editing courtesy of our newest media intern Patrick! Don’t worry, you’ll get to meet him soon enough.
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Not that I was ever a fan of Rick Perry,
but given the FACT is that CO2 is NOT a pollutant,
and the EPA is WAY out of line in declaring it as such,
I actually agree with him on this.
Actually, according to the way law in our very own state defines it, it is:
“‘Air contaminant’ means particulate matter, radioactive material, dust, fumes, gas, mist, smoke, vapor, or odor, including any combination of those items, produced by processes other than natural.” Tex. Health & Safety Code § 382.003(2).
Re-read that; “gas… produced by processes other than natural”. So CO2 from plants: not a problem. CO2 from coal plants burning through mountains of coal: air contaminant, pollution, problem.
You can capitalize key words as much as you want, but it does not make them truths.
Props to Sarah for having truth on her side, but we should remember this:
Gov. Perry keeps talking about the EPA as being “unelected bureaucrats” who are drafting these CO2 rules, when in fact, the EPA is only doing what the Supreme Court told them to do in Massachusetts v. EPA– if you read the opinion, The Clean Air Act is even more broad in what it classifies as an air containment than even Texas statutes.
The TCEQ has even included greenhouse gases as pollutants in the past (not now, of course), and as part of lawsuits which it settled almost a decade ago with Public Citizen and others, was going to begin a CO2 registry and requiring disclosure of CO2 as part of air quality permits. Now, they of course haven’t done this, but they should be, and it is among several reasons they have lawsuits pending against them about CO2.
Also, the next time you say CO2 isn’t harmful to human health, place a bag over your head and continue to breathe deeply for as long as you can….
I have a problem with your use of the term, “tin foil hat”.
Everyone knows that only a steel V2K Cap will protect against mind control weaponry.
[...] citizensarah This editorial from the Dallas Morning News is a little bit old news, responding to Governor Perry’s lawsuit against the EPA’s endangerment finding about carbon dioxide, BUT I really like the message that clean air vs. jobs is a false choice. Because everything we [...]