FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Ted CruzR-Texas is leading a bipartisan amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to uphold a lower court ruling that prevents nuclear waste from being dumped in his state.
Cruz, along with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, want the Supreme Court to uphold a lower court ruling that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) does not have the authority to license storage facilities for nuclear waste.
They claim that the proposed location of the nuclear waste sites “poses an enormous threat to the security and economic well-being of the country.”
The case, NRC v. Texas, will decide “whether the Commission has authority to issue the permit under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 or the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.”
The Supreme Court agreed in October to take the case after the Biden administration appealed a Fifth Circuit decision that found the NRC did not have the authority to grant permits for nuclear waste storage facilities. The permit, which was granted to the Biden administration and a company to build a waste storage facility in west Texas, was challenged by Texas and New Mexico.
The bipartisan amicus brief argues that the proposed location of nuclear waste sites in Texas “poses an enormous threat to the nation’s security and economic well-being.”
Interim Storage Partners planned to operate the nuclear storage facility in Andrews County, Texas, a decision that drew backlash due to the facility’s location in the Permian Basin.
“The Permian Basin is our nation’s leading oil and gas producing region and a critical pillar of America’s energy security,” Cruz told Fox News Digital in a statement. “I support the state of Texas in opposing the federal overreach of the NRC and will continue to fight to ensure that West Texas remains the powerhouse that it is today.”
The letter states that the placement of the storage facilities near the Permian Basin makes the area “an attractive target for adversaries,” threatening the oil-producing region. The brief says that neither the parties hoping to operate the facilities nor the NRC are “equipped to consider the broader implications” of locating the facilities in the area.
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Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cueller and Republican Reps. August Pfluger and Ronny Jackson also joined Cruz’s order.
“Energy independence is national security, which is why I support the scale-up of all reliable and economical energy sources, including nuclear power, to meet our rising energy demands,” Arrington said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “However, I will not allow Washington to impose its will on West Texas regarding the temporary storage of high-level nuclear waste simply because the Nuclear Regulatory Commission cannot or will not complete permanent storage elsewhere.”
Arrington said Texas “and the people of Andrews should make the decision” instead of “a nameless, faceless bureaucrat in Washington, DC.”
The amicus brief states that the location of the waste sites – while “remote” – “poses an enormous threat to the security and economic well-being of the country.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas (pictured), along with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, want the Supreme Court to uphold a lower court ruling that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission does not have licensing authority for nuclear waste storage facilities. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“Energy security is national security. That adage remains as true today as it was in the 1970s, when OPEC strategically restricted its oil supply to the United States,” the file continues.
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“And while we have come a long way since then – building domestic energy production capacity and reducing dependence on fossil fuels – recent events are a vivid reminder of the importance of energy independence,” the amicus continued. “They also demonstrated that the Permian Basin is of global importance.”
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case in early March. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
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The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case in early March.
