Don't be so green, Joe: Texas Governor Greg Abbott threatens to sue Biden for 'hostile' climate agenda he claims will 'kill jobs'
Texas is preparing to launch several legal battles against Joe Biden for his current and future climate initiatives, which Governor Greg Abbott claims are 'hostile' and 'job killers.'
The Republican governor signed an executive order Thursday directing Texas' state agencies to 'use all lawful powers and tools to challenge any federal action that threatened the continued strength and vitality of the emergency 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,' Abbott included in the announcement of his executive order.
The order from the Lone Star State's Republican leader came after Biden's climate czar John Kerry said blue collar energy workers were fed lies that environmental protections would come at a cost to their jobs and livelihoods.
'They've been fed the notion that somehow dealing with climate is coming at their expense,' Kerry said during a briefing at the White House Wednesday of energy workers. 'No, it's not. What's happening to them is happening because of other market forces already taking place.'
Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed an executive order Thursday directing all state agencies to pursue litigation and legal channels to challenge Joe Biden's energy and climate agenda, which he claims will 'kill jobs' in Texas
'Each state agency should work to identify potential litigation, notice-and-comment opportunities, and any other means of preventing federal overreach within the law,' Abbott wrote in his executive order announcement
'Texas is going to protect the oil and gas industry from any type of hostile attack launched from Washington D.C.,' Abbott said
Biden announced Wednesday several climate initiatives of his administration, including stopping construction of the Keystone Xl Pipeline, rejoining the Paris Climate Accord and reinstating restrictive regulations on the industry
Climate czar John Kerry (right) said 'better jobs choices' would open up for energy workers who would lose their jobs with these new initiatives, like 'they can be the people who go to work to make the solar panels'
He said those working in energy and coal who would lose their jobs through the new administration's agenda would now 'have better choices' – like going 'to work to make the solar panels.'
'Coal plants have been closing over the last 20 years,' Kerry outlined. 'So what President Biden wants to do is make sure those folks have better choices, that they have alternatives, and they can be the people who go to work to make the solar panels.'
The comment was blasted by the right as extremely 'out of touch' and 'elitist.'
Texas Senator Ted Cruz tweeted in retaliation: 'Rich, out-of-touch Dems lecture the thousands of blue-collar union members whose jobs are being deliberately destroyed by the Biden admin: 'Make 'better choices'. While you're at it, don't forget 'let them eat cake!''
'Texas is going to protect the oil and gas industry from any type of hostile attack launched from Washington D.C.,' Abbott said on Thursday in his plans to launch litigation against Biden.
He called the president's recent executive orders and actions related to the energy industry 'regulatory overreach' that could 'damage the stability of the Texas economy.'
'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,' he continued.
The executive order Abbott is referencing revoked federal funding and therefore stopped construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which was a means of transporting crude oil to refineries in the U.S.
'Texas is not going to stand idly by and watch the Biden administration kill jobs in Midland, in Odessa or any other place across the entire region,' Abbott asserted.
Biden signed a slew of executive orders related to the environment that will affect the energy sector – and he put Kerry, an Obama-era secretary of state, in charge of his climate initiatives.
In the less than two weeks since Biden took office, he has signed more than 40 executive orders – mostly undoing much of Trump's policies rather than forwarding his own agenda
Those orders revoked the permit for the massive pipeline project and put a stop to new oil and gas leases on federal lands. He also rejoined the Paris Climate Accord, which Donald Trump existed during his presidency over claims it was inherently unfair to the U.S.
Since taking office a week-and-a-half ago, Biden has signed more than 40 executive orders.
He has faced harsh criticism for relying too heavily on this executive power 'in an effort to undo the damage Trump has done' instead of moving forward with advancing his own agenda.
Since taking office 11 days ago, Biden has signed orders stopping construction of Trump's southern border wall, reversed his ban on travel from several Muslim-majority countries and ended an order barring transgender individuals from serving in the military.
No comments