Cruz spearheads effort to derail nuclear waste dump in oil-rich Texas area

First to the fox: Sen. Ted CrossR-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 high court to uphold a lower court ruling that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) lacks authority to license facilities of nuclear waste storage.

They argue 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 license under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 or the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.”

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The Supreme Court In October, he agreed to take on the case after the Biden administration appealed a Fifth Circuit decision that found the NRC lacked authority to license nuclear waste storage facilities. The license, which was awarded to the Biden administration and a company to build a waste storage facility in west Texas, was contested by Texas and New Mexico.

Interim Storage Partners planned to operate the nuclear storage facility in Andrews County, Texas, a decision that prompted backlash because of the facility’s location within 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 override of the NRC and will continue to fight to ensure that West Texas remains the powerhouse it is today.”

The brief argues that locating storage facilities near the Permian Basin makes the area “an attractive target for adversaries,” thus 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 ramifications” of locating the facilities in the area.

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Texas Democratic Representative Henry Cueller and Republican Representatives August Pfluger and Ronny Jackson have also joined Cruz’s brief.

“Energy independence is national security, which is why I support the expansion of all reliable and affordable energy sources, including nuclear, to meet our growing energy demand,” Arrington said in a told Fox News Digital. “However, I will not allow Washington to impose its will on West Texas regarding the temporary disposal of high-level nuclear waste simply because the Nuclear Regulatory Commission cannot or will not finalize permanent storage elsewhere “.

Arrington said Texas “and the people of Andrews should make the decision” rather than “some faceless bureaucrat in Washington, D.C.”

The Amicus brief states that the location of the waste sites, while “remote,” “presents an enormous threat to the safety and economic well-being of the nation.”

“Energy security is national security. That adage remains as true now as it did in the 1970s, when OPEC strategically cut U.S. oil supplies,” the presentation continues.

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“And while we’ve come a long way since then—building domestic energy production capacity and decreasing dependence on fossil fuels—recent events are a vivid reminder of the importance of energy independence,” Amicus continued. . “They have also shown that the Permian Basin is of global importance.”

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The high court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case in early March.