Governor Abbott Issues Executive Order Relating To Protection Of Texas’s Energy Industry From Federal Overreach
WHEREAS, the energy industry is vital to economic growth in the state of Texas, fueling prosperity for all Texans by creating jobs and expanding trade; and
WHEREAS, hundreds of thousands of Texans are employed in the energy industry; and
WHEREAS, billions of dollars in taxes and royalties flow to Texas every year thanks to the hard work and innovation of the energy industry, helping to pay for schools, roads, and other services; and
WHEREAS, the continued success of Texas’s energy industry will aid our smooth recovery from the COVID-19 disaster, both here and across the country, because Texas is the economic engine of America and the source of her energy security; and
WHEREAS, regulators can act sensibly to ensure safe and efficient operation by the energy sector in Texas and elsewhere; and
WHEREAS, regulatory overreach in the energy sector, by contrast, can damage the stability of the Texas economy and the livelihoods of countless Texans; and
WHEREAS, on his very first day in office, President Joe Biden signaled extreme hostility toward the energy industry, and thus toward Texas, by rejoining the job-killing Paris Agreement and signing Executive Order 13990; and
WHEREAS, among other costly mistakes, Executive Order 13990 revoked the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have supplied crude oil to refineries that employ thousands of Texans; and
WHEREAS, Executive Order 13990 also directed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to rescind its 2020 methane rule, as an apparent prelude to burdensome new regulation of the energy industry’s emissions in Texas and in sister states; and
WHEREAS, in a further blow to Texas’s energy sector that will cost thousands more jobs, the Biden Administration has suspended new drilling permits and new leasing for production on federal lands and in federal waters; and
WHEREAS, more and greater threats to the Texas energy sector seem imminent as President Biden embraces Green New Deal policies;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas, by virtue of the power and authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the State of Texas, hereby direct every state agency to use all lawful powers and tools to challenge any federal action that threatens the continued strength, vitality, and independence of the energy industry. Each state agency should work to identify potential litigation, notice-and-comment opportunities, and any other means of preventing federal overreach within the law.
This executive order supersedes all previous orders in conflict or inconsistent with its terms and shall remain in effect and in full force unless it is modified, amended, rescinded, or superseded by the governor.
Given under my hand this the 28th day of January, 2021.
GREG ABBOTT, Governor
ATTESTED BY: RUTH R. HUGHS, Secretary of State