Over at the Texas Tribune, Neena Satija sets up a bit of a false opposition between Attorney General Greg Abbott and Texas businesses on the issue of EPA:

Attorney General Greg Abbott, a candidate for governor, has trumpeted the state’s multiple lawsuits targeting the agency, and other candidates for statewide office are also pledging to protect Texas from what they see as encroachment by the EPA.

But a new law that comfortably passed the state Legislature this year reflects a different reality – that Texas businesses have to live with climate change regulation, regardless of the politics. House Bill 788 orders the state to regulate emissions of greenhouse gases. It had the support of many of the companies that need permits related to greenhouse gas emissions from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to expand or construct facilities.

To begin with, HB 788 did not “order” the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to regulate greenhouse gases. It said that they “may” do so.

More to the point, whether Texas businesses have to live with EPA’s climate change regulations depends in part on the outcome of Texas’ legal challenges. If the state wins these cases (as it has with respect to several other lawsuits against EPA) and the regulations are invalidated, then businesses will not have to live with them. Nothing in the Tribune piece suggests that this isn’t the preferred alternative for Texas industry, or even that the business community wishes the state weren’t mounting its legal fights. Indeed, HB 788 itself contemplates that the legal challenges will continue, and contains a provision requiring TCEQ to repeal any permitting rules for greenhouse gases if and when the current federal regulations are struck down.

It’s true, of course, that while the cases are pending, the lack of state permitting has been very inconvenient. Even where EPA ultimately loses a case, it can still often exact a significant price in delays. The purpose behind HB 788 was to lessen this price, without giving up on the efforts to vindicate Texas’ rights in court. But while the temporary authority for greenhouse gas permitting in HB 788 is a regrettable necessity, the bill can’t really be seen as a repudiation of the Attorney General’s efforts.  

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