Sierra Club faults TCEQ for rubber stamp on plant emissions

republicans only care about their cronies. Air pollution? Climate change? Too bad.

State regulators allowed four coal plants to breeze through a permitting process, skipping time for public comment and closer scrutiny of the plants' emission controls and air-quality impacts, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by the Sierra Club.

The environmental group is appealing permit amendments approved Dec. 16 by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that allow increased emissions from the plants, in East and Central Texas, during periods of planned startup, shutdown and maintenance.

The issuance of the permits is "invalid, arbitrary and unreasonable," according to the lawsuit filed in state District Court in Travis County.