This interview aired on November 19, 2015, at 7pm and 11pm CT.
In his interview, Mike spoke about why he and a group he represents, Balanced Energy for Texas, are opposed to a new federal proposal designed to reign in greenhouse gases.
“Environmental laws work, and we have a great history and story of success here in Texas and in the country about addressing environmental issues when we actually have technology that we can apply at facilities within the fence,” Mike said. “This regulation is the first of its kind in the sense that EPA is readily acknowledging that the technology to control the pollutant that it’s seeking to control here – carbon dioxide – doesn’t exist… inside the fence of a facility. Instead they’re trying to take a much broader view of the Clean Air Act – that the entire electric grid is a system that can control or be controlled. It’s certainly an unchecked interpretation of the Clean Air Act and one that is very unpopular, obviously, with Congress and with at least 27 states that are litigating the case.”
Balanced Energy for Texas is a statewide coalition of energy consumers, producers, and providers committed to supporting policies that preserve and promote the state’s leading role in energy and economic development.
Mike is a partner with the Environmental and Legislative Affairs Practice Group in the Austin office of Jackson Walker where he practices environmental law in areas of air, water, reclamation and waste management and manages the firm’s air quality practice. As part of the firm’s Environmental and Energy practice groups, Mike secures environmental permits for and is active in state and federal policy development on behalf of corporations, governmental entities, and cooperatives in the electric power generation, mining, oil & gas, steel manufacturing, and recycling industries. He received his B.A. in government and history from the University of Texas at Austin and his J.D. in environmental law from the University of Houston Law Center.
