Gov. Rick Perry announced today Texas would legally challenge the Environmental Protection Agency’s finding that carbon dioxide and other gases linked to global warming endanger the public’s health and welfare.

The federal agency issued the finding in December in an attempt to regulate the heat-trapping gases under the Clean Air Act.

Texas is the nation’s leading emitter of carbon dioxide, releasing enough each year that the state would rank seventh worldwide if it were a country.

The state’s petition, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., comes four days after several businesses and conservative groups filed similar suits.

Don’t mess with Texas.