In a letter sent to President Joe Biden, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) plan could jeopardize a quarter of the nation's gas supply.
The EPA recently announced it may impose a discretionary redesignation of the Permian Basin, which accounts for approximately 40% of all oil produced in the U.S.
EPA
"EPA is now considering a discretionary redesignation for (portions of) these counties in New Mexico and Texas for the 2015 ozone NAAQS under Clean Air Act section 107(d)(3) based on current monitoring data and other air quality factors," the Biden administration wrote in a notice. "If the area is redesignated to nonattainment, the state(s) will be required to submit a State Implementation Plan to bring the area into attainment with the 2015 ozone NAAQS."
According to Abbott, the EPA’s actions in the Permian Basin could result in draconian regulations that would directly interfere with the nation’s most prolific oil field.
“While you express concern about out-of-control gas prices, your Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is threatening to increase them even further,” reads the letter. “The EPA’s process could interfere in the production of oil in Texas which could lead to skyrocketing prices at the pump by reducing production, increase the cost of that production, or do both. Your administration's announced action is completely discretionary. Thus, you have the power to stop it. If you do not, this action alone might serve as a catalyst for economic harm leading to an even deeper reliance on imported foreign energy and a faster economic decline into the pending recession by forcing even more pain for American consumers to pay at the pump.”
The Permian Basin is responsible for 5.2 million barrels of oil per day, which can be processed into about 95,000,000 gallons of gasoline a day, Abbott said.
"If you let the EPA move forward with the untimely and unnecessary measures that accompany redesignation, that action will put at risk 25 percent of American oil supply," reads the letter. "That, in turn, could substantially increase the cost of gasoline."
The letter requests a response from the Biden administration by July 29th. If the proposed redesignation is not suspended, Texas will take action to "protect the production of oil—and the gasoline that comes from it," the governor wrote.
