[sam_paine]

There is a link to the document. Before anyone gets upset, they should at least read the Executive Summary and the Executive Director's Recommendations.

Oh, I read it before I got upset.

TNRCC -aka- "TRAINWRECK" as it is known by its bureaucrat-employees, is an exacutive monster that releases new initiatives to self-perpetuate its own expansion. When -IS- the last time TNRCC requested that its funding be cut?

The willy nilly interchanging of "local pollution" and "global warming" is ludicrous, but expected for this bunch. The study talks of studies on global GHG, and then immediately applies that to "Local (Texas) Pollution control," without proving a measurable link. If Texas' CO2 output was INCREASED by gubbmint mandate to 10 TIMES its present value, could that even be detected in the GLOBAL atmosphere??? Probably not, but the TNRCC would not finance such a study for fear that it might be inconclusive just like the false positive studies of the enviro-panickers.

IOW, if all pollution is bad, less pollution is better...no matter the cost. WRONG!!!! If the cost-benefit ain't proven, and it is admitted that the GHG->Warming is not even conclusive, how can you keep a straight face and advocate reduction methods Draco would be proud of??

[Ben Ficklin]

You may demean TNRCC if you like, but compared to all the other individual state enviro agencies, they are considered to be "easy" and underfunded. As for any power you or others might think they have, the politicians will make the decisions. Would you know how many regulations there are that require voluntary compliance? Would you know how many open hearth furnaces(1920s technology) there are in Texas?

Simply put: There is no advantage to regulating CO2. By regulating the other pollutants there will be achieved a reduction in CO2. For example: By lowering the speed limit in the Houston attainment area there will not only be a reduction in NOx but also a reduction in CO2.

Contrary to what you may say, the State of Texas does do cost benefit analysis. Care to guess who is not required to do a cost benefit analysis? Care to guess who steps in should the state not achieve their requirements.