(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) A Texas federal judge struck down a rule from the Biden administration that required states and cities to measure and set goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions that are “associated with transportation.”
The Federal Highway Administration’s (FHA) rule was criticized by Republicans who argued that the federal government lacked authority to implement the mandate and that it was an attempt by the Biden administration to impose its “climate change” agenda on conservative states, the Daily Wire reported.
In December 2023, Texas sued to have the rule vacated and a federal judge sided with the state on March 27, 2024.
“A federal administrative agency cannot act without congressional authorization. Here, the [FHA] created a rule requiring the states to measure, report and set declining targets for the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by vehicles using the interstate and national highway systems. Texas sued, alleging that the agency lacked authority to enact the rule. Given the statutory text’s plain language and context, the Court agrees,” Judge James Hendrix of the Northern District of Texas and a Donald Trump appointee wrote.
The Department of Transportation had attempted to override the law’s “clear limitation of authorized performance measures to those that track the physical condition and efficiency of the interstate and national-highway systems,” Hendrix wrote in his 49-page decision.
The Wire reported that the judge said that for the federal government to force states to make greenhouse gas measurements Congress either had to amend 23 U.S. Code Section 150, a federal law related to national highways and interstates, or pass an entirely new law.
Republicans in Congress, including Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves, R-Mo., and Highways and Transit Subcommittee Chairman Rick Crawford, R-Ark., celebrated the decision.
“This was a clear case of blatant overreach by the Biden Administration from the beginning, and we commend the Court for its ruling that a ‘federal administrative agency cannot act without congressional authorization,’” Graves and Crawford said.
