House Bill 788 will allow the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to issue permits for greenhouse gas emissions, but a last minute change to the bill removed the phrase, "climatic changes, including global warming."
Rep. Chris Turner, D-Arlington, initially supported the bill until this change in wording.
"There is absolutely no reason to remove that language regardless of what you think about global warming, climate change - what its causes are. This is simply a political move to make an out-of-step statement on a fairly well accepted issue as it relates to the environment," Turner said.
Turner said it is simply a statement against climate change.
"I think it has to be viewed that way. Why else oppose it unless you simply want to make a statement that you don't believe that climate change is an issue." Turner said.
The bill passed on a vote of 119 to 23; Turner’s amendment to include the original language that included "global warming" as a reason for greenhouse emissions was voted down.
- See the data visualization image used in this story at: www-958.ibm.com/software/analytics/manyeyes/visualizations/pollution-pie
