The American State Of Texas

Texas, being the very conservative, right-wing state that it is, has long had problems compromising and working with the federal government and when it comes to environmental policy, this is no exception. Republicans in the state of Texas tend to clash frequently with federal Democratic leaders and this has been especially noticeable within the last few years. The state of our environment is a national problem and has gotten to the point where federal law must intervene when it comes to regulation of how each state deals with the problems of air quality, water pollution, and conservation of land and resources, to name a few. It seems as though when it comes to issues regarding the environment, the states and federal government have been unable to see eye to eye. In the past, there was a focus on meeting the minimum federal standards when it came to the environment but states are leaning towards more aggressive policies. While each state may choose to handle this policy in the way they feel best benefits them, it is an issue that affects the whole country and should be handled as if it were as important as any other. Single states often become catalysts for others to adopt their regulations, rather than using the federal government as a leading example, but it is important that these catalyst states are being led in the right direction in the first place.
Before the 1970s, environmental policy was not the more publicized issue that it is today. After the Santa Barbara oil spill in 1969, the environmental movement really took off. The federal government took the situation into their hands and paid more attention to environmental policy than they had been doing in the past. While the states still have quite a bit of power when it com...

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...nation and to decide the best way to compromise.
While each state should be aware of the environmental needs that are most important to address, environmental policy should be beneficial to all. This means that Texas and the federal government need to learn how to work together more efficiently. “As is often the case in environmental policy, environmental outcomes occur at a rate incompatible with political agendas: In addition, a multitude of possibly confounding variables makes it difficult to correlate collaborative governance processes with environmental outcomes.” (Biddle) It is crucial for Texas to drop its “Don’t Tread on Me” state of mind for the greater good of our environment. Selfishness has no place here. Without any compromise, the destruction of Texas’s environment could very well impact other states and become a landslide effect throughout the country.