Perry still has his hair, it’s his mind he’s lost

The FW Star-Telegram ran a story today dealing with Gov. Rick Perry’s demand yesterday that “the Environmental Protection Agency scrap a declaration that could lead to broadened government controls of pollutants…”

The Star-T’s Perry quote went this way: “The unelected bureaucrats at the EPA have effectively and unilaterally ended any honest debate on this vital issue.” Perry’s comment was made during an appearance at the San Jacinto Monument at La Porte.

I think Perry has lost his mind. Or is so in fear of losing his Governorship that he’s decided to move far enough to the right to grab every Tea Bag vote available.
His comments came in response to the EPA’s recent declaration that carbon dioxide is a threat to human health and therefore subject to federal regulation.

This is not rocket science. You stop breathing oxygen and you will die. But Perry is so wrapped up in his secessionist robes that even protecting his constituents from the hazards of carbon dioxide makes him want to rattle his saber against the specter of the Big Brother Feds.

If Perry cared at all about his constituents he would have had a strong Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in place years ago. Instead, he filled the TCEQ with people who went along with what he wanted to hear. And on those rare occasions when he was rebuffed by one member of the commission or another, they were gone as soon as their term was up.

And now that the TCEQ has been shown to do such shoddy work for the benefit of air-breathing Texans that the EPA has had to swoop into Texas to save us, Perry is again upset. Can it be that he has never smelled, seen or been choked by pollution? Has he never seen those highway signs warning people that tomorrow’s air is expected to be so polluted that people should stay in their homes?

This isn’t big brother, this is common sense. Wooing businesses to Texas is one thing. Wooing them on the promise that they will be less regulated and allowed to pollute more than they could anywhere else in the country is a horse of a different color. Those are my kids and your kids breathing that filthy air. And the time for debate, as Perry mentions, is long over. It’s time to clean it up.