Rick Perry’s ‘Environmental Watchdog’ is a top climate change denier with ties to energy industry
I know, shocking.
In 2007, Perry appointed Dr. Bryan Shaw, an engineer and professor at Texas A&M University, to head the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), a regulator with a $350 million budget and a mission to “protect our state’s human and natural resources consistent with sustainable economic development.”
The commission issues permits to new energy plants and applies and enforces Texas’ environmental regulations. In theory, it would be charged with enforcing climate change mitigation regulations too. The TCEQ is led by three commissioners, all appointed by the governor. And under Perry, the TCEQ has acted as a rubber stamp for the energy industry in Texas, say environmental attorneys and advocates. “With one exception, Perry has appointed people who are hostile to the environment and who are very ideological,” says Jim Marston, director of the Environmental Defense Fund’s (EDF) Texas office.
Exhibit A is Perry’s choice of Shaw, a fellow climate change skeptic, to lead the TCEQ. Despite near-universal consensus that humans cause global warming, Shaw said in his confirmation hearing that the science of climate change remains unclear. Pressed further, Shaw added: “I don’t believe it’s fully vetted. Fortunately or unfortunately, having a consensus of a group of scientists doesn’t make that fully settled.” (The Perry campaign did not respond to a request for comment. Shaw’s office declined an interview request.)
Not only do Shaw’s denials ignore a vast body of climate science research, they break with scientists at his own university. The Texas A&M atmospheric sciences department’s website features a statement signed by all faculty stating that global warming is real, humans are “very likely” the cause of “most of the recent warming,” and inaction could inflict “serious adverse impacts on our environment and society.”
Lots more at the link
