Texas, Calif. Throw Their Weight Around on Power Plant Regulations

Critics say the regulation rewards early actors like California and takes it easy on coal-dependent states without as many options, while asking for leaps and bounds from states like Texas that show room for more change.

The biggest opponents of the rule charge that it is intended to slow down states with healthy economies, a claim EPA and its advocates vehemently deny. Texas regulators say the state's industries -- especially manufacturing and refining -- may be energy-intensive and contribute a large amount of carbon emissions, but make products used around the country, not just within the state.

'Low-hanging fruit' or a bad apple?
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Texas is one of the loudest opponents of the proposal, lodging complaints about the need for the rule, its legality and violations of state autonomy.  State officials say Texas is being punished for its good deeds -- asked by EPA to contribute more than any other state in greenhouse gas reductions after demonstrating its ability to use more natural gas and ramp up renewable energy quickly.

The rule calls for Texas to slash its emissions rate 38 percent by 2030, which Texas says ends up being about 19 percent of the whole country's cuts.
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"The proposed rule will have a severe and disproportionate impact on Texas," say comments from the state's three regulatory agencies.  "Texas has made significant efforts in developing a diversified and balanced energy generation mix. ... The EPA is using those efforts to impose a more stringent standard on Texas than other states that are predominantly coal or have implemented little renewable energy."

Calif. to feds: Don't box us in

California has a tendency to see itself is a trend-setting nation-state.  Whether it's pop culture, demographics or government policy, leaders like to think that what the state looks like today, the rest of the country will look like tomorrow.

That is especially true when it comes to climate change policy.  Under its last two governors -- who both viewed climate change as a legacy issue -- California has leapt ahead of other states when it comes to developing aggressive vehicle emission standards, renewable energy goals, and the nation's most ambitious economy wide cap-and-trade program.

So it's no surprise that state officials' main concern isn't how they can adapt to meet the Clean Power Plan's goals, but rather how EPA's rule may affect California's already-established climate momentum.  State comments stress that the new federal rules must "minimize disruption to existing state programs" and "avoid creating cumbersome administrative hurdles for states that wish to create or extend programs that help decarbonize their power sectors."

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