Washington, DC- Congressman Ron Paul yesterday wrote top officials in the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission (TNRCC), urging them to rethink speed limit rules that impose tremendous costs on Texas drivers without improving air quality.

The EPA recently indicated that the 55 mile-per-hour speed limit enacted in the Houston-Galveston Area State Implementation Plan (HGA SIP) does not reduce emissions as previously believed. Accordingly, Paul thinks area speed limits should not be based on false promises of cleaner air.

“Too often, environmental policies are not based on solid facts,” Paul stated. “Now that we have an EPA report showing that lower speed limits don’t reduce emissions, I believe TNRCC should reinstate the 70 mile-per-hour speed limit. I encourage TNRCC to explore other methods to meet federal mandates that are less costly to Texans in both social and economic terms. Texas drivers and voters deserve to have their speed limits determined at the state and local level, not in Washington.”

Paul is known on Capitol Hill for promoting state and local control over environmental policy. “I oppose oppressive federal regulations that don’t consider local circumstances,” Paul concluded. “One-size-fits-all polices decided in Washington are not best for Texas.”

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