{"id":40131,"date":"2015-04-14T06:00:41","date_gmt":"2015-04-14T11:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=40131"},"modified":"2015-04-13T16:47:51","modified_gmt":"2015-04-13T21:47:51","slug":"as-deadline-nears-for-texas-haze-rule-a-look-at-how-lawsuits-shape-regulation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2015\/04\/14\/as-deadline-nears-for-texas-haze-rule-a-look-at-how-lawsuits-shape-regulation\/","title":{"rendered":"As Deadline Nears for Texas Haze Rule, A Look at How Lawsuits Shape Regulation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Haze<\/a>

Mary Ann Melton<\/p>

Haze is visible in the distance at Big Bend National Park.<\/p><\/div>\n

Note: This is a text version of a previously posted<\/a> radio story.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

One week remains for the public to comment<\/a> on an Environmental Protection Agency proposal to reduce smog in one of Texas most beloved national parks. The EPA’s plan<\/a> to limit so-called ‘regional haze’ is one of a slew of new air quality rules that have critics\u00a0accusing the EPA of waging a ‘war on coal.’ But the reality of environmental policy-making, and the years of lawsuits that it often entails, is more complicated than the rhetoric.<\/p>\n

To see how, look no farther than the hazy skies over Far West Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cBig Bend National Park and Big Bend State Park. They are beautiful,” says Mary Ann Melton of the region. She’s a\u00a0photographer who\u2019s been visiting there since the 1970s.<\/p>\n