Should Texas Be Included in the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule?

Texas Governor and presidential candidate Rick Perry and several of his state agency appointees have criticized the final version of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), published in July 2011, on the grounds that it will jeopardize the state’s electric grid reliability and cause significant job loss during tough economic times. In September 2011, State Attorney General Greg Abbott and Luminant Generation Co. (Luminant) filed lawsuits against the EPA over the rule, claiming, in part, that Texas does not have time to comply with the sulfur dioxide (SO2) limits which were sprung on them on short notice. But a closer look at the validity of these claims shows that they are misleading and based on inaccurate information.

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) has published a paper to examine whether Texas should be included in the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule. Please click here to download the issue brief in .pdf format.