Meanwhile, the state of Texas is plagued by its own air-quality issues — and the state House and Senate are at loggerheads over what to do about it. On Monday, the Senate passed a bill to fund the Texas Emissions Reductions Program, the key component of a federally mandated state anti-smog plan. The bill would raise some $150 million per year for pollution control by raising fees on vehicle title transfers, while a House version would raise roughly the same amount by taxing bulk diesel shipments. When the House and Senate get together to draft a final version, though, a different, truly Texan, issue is likely to be the breaking point: How fast can you drive in the state? Currently, the House bill would prevent the state from lowering speed limits to reduce emissions, while the Senate bill would not. Opinions run strong on both sides: Rep. Dennis Bonnen (R), author of the House version, refuses to “raise fees on Texans and then tell them they might still have a lowered speed limit,” while Sen. Chris Harris (R), author of the Senate version, warned against scuttling the entire clean-air process “just so motorists can zip through cities at 65 mph instead of 60 mph.”
