Hundreds of people from across the state showed up in Dallas on Friday (January 14th) to participate in the EPA's Greenhouse Gas Public Hearing to support EPA's enforcement of the Clean Air Act in Texas.
And why? Because Texas residents cannot get help from their own state agency, Texas Commission on Environment Quality (TCEQ), to safeguard their basic rights to clean air.
According to the Houston Chronicle, TCEQ "skipped the Environmental Protection Agency's hearing on the federal takeover of some permits for new power plants, refineries and other large industrial facilities. The EPA seized control of the greenhouse gas permits last month because Texas is the only state that has refused to implement new nationwide rules for emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases."
Cherelle Blazer from Environmental Defense Fund
Jim Schermbeck of Downwinders At Risk