Texas Attorney General Kenneth Paxton filed a lawsuit Jan. 16 against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to halt a methane tax.
The EPA proposed the tax that would force many energy producers to pay the government money for “climate benefits,” Paxton said. The tax would be bad policy, and it is unlawful, he said.
After the announcement of the plan, Paxton joined 22 other states’ attorneys general to urge the EPA to abandon the effort. Since then the EPA has issued a final ruling approving the plan so the lawsuit is aimed at preventing the regulation from taking place.
Paxton has also joined another multistate coalition to stop a ban on gas-powered water heaters designed by the Department of Energy. That coalition is led by Georgia, Kansas and Tennessee and supported by the National Propane Gas Association, the National Association of Homebuilders and the Rinnai Corp.
“Over the past four years I have opposed the Biden Administration more than 100 times to stop its radical attempts to undermine the law,” Paxton said. “I am positive this last-minute effort to harm the energy industry will be halted as well In only four days, when President-elect Trump resumes office, America will no longer be burdened by a runaway bureaucracy intent on destroying our liberties.”
