Why we don't like Texas

I just read a story from Newsweek on the polluting prowess of Texas. I was not at all shocked to learn that Texas is the state with the largest CO₂ output. However, the following did horrify me:
"Were the Lonestar State to secede from the union it would be the world's eighth-largest emitter of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, just behind Canada."
also:
"Texas still outpaces the combined emissions of California and Pennsylvania, the states with the second- and third-highest CO₂ outputs."

That's amazing and terrible and irresponsible and...

"Texans epitomize America's penchant for overconsumption, so much so that they've even coined their own phrase for superlarge portions: Texas-sized. The state's 23.5 million residents use nearly 3,000 more kilowatt-hours of electricity every year than the average American and a higher percentage of them drive large, gas-guzzling vehicles."

"[I]t is one of only 15 states without a climate action plan in place or even under consideration."

I can definitely see that Bush belongs in Texas despite his Yalie pedigree. I recently read an article in GOOD about Vermont's desire to secede because of the restrictive hand of our federal government; they want tougher environmental laws, for one thing. That's great, and I think that states (see California) should be able to enact tougher laws if they want to, and that the federal government needs to get tougher too. My worry with the secession talk (and there is some low-level talk in the South) is that southern states are not very likely to enact tough laws benefiting the environment, and will instead likely go in the other direction, making pollution easier. And we are all affected by the decisions of the eighth-largest CO₂ emitter in the world living on our doorstep.