"Rick Perry's Dirty Deals With Big Coal"

"Perry fast-tracked new plants and made Texas even more polluted than it already was."

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"In April 2006, a few days before Earth Day, Texas Gov. Rick Perry joined executives of TXU, the state's largest utility and biggest carbon dioxide emitter, in cheering plans to open a staggering 11 new coal-fired power plants throughout Texas. With rolling blackouts still fresh on many Texans' minds, Perry hailed TXU's rapid expansion as a path to energy security, not to mention a way to create jobs and potentially lower energy costs.

Perry had earned his spot alongside the TXU brass. Months before the announcement, Perry signed a controversial executive order fast-tracking the permitting process for new coal-fired plants, shrinking a process that once took anywhere between one and four years down to a mere six months. And at the same time he was helping usher in new coal plants, Perry was raking in tens of thousands of dollars in donations from TXU. 'Perry is very pro-coal, and will bend over backward to do whatever the coal industry asks of him,' says Tom Smith, director of Public Citizen's Texas office. 'He's the longest ongoing natural disaster in Texas history.'"

Andy Kroll reports for Mother Jones September 21, 2011.

SEE ALSO:

"Aggie Scientists Take Issue With Perry's Global Warming Skepticism" (San Antonio Express-News)

"Texas, Kansas Sue EPA Over Air Pollution Rule" (Reuters)