Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has welcomed a U.S. Supreme Court decision to hear the state's arguments against federal rules to block greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and refineries.
The court said Tuesday it would hear Texas' argument that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cannot regulate that pollution.
Abbott says the EPA has overstepped its authority, and that the regulations threaten Texas jobs and employers.
The EPA says it can regulate such emissions based on a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that states automobile emissions of greenhouses gases can be considered air pollutants. A federal appeals court has upheld the agency's interpretation that the ruling also applies to such emissions from power plants and refineries.
Texas leads the nation in greenhouse gas emissions and industrial pollution.
