AUSTIN -- The recent U.S. Supreme Court (USSC) decision on auto emissions has set two Texas Democratic lawmakers on an unusual quest.

State Rep. Mark Strama of Austin and State Sen. Rodney Ellis of Houston want the Lone Star State to emulate the Golden State in cracking down on car pollutants.

They introduced legislation last week requiring cars in Texas to emit fewer overall pollutants and to lower the state's cap on emissions (which now include may GHGs) by 30 percent. The bill will be heard on Thursday.

If successful, Texas's car-emission standards would then match California's levels, which are lower than federal standards. Eleven other states will soon regulate GHGs and other emissions to the same level as California after the USSC decision.

The USSC's ruling last week effectively allowed states to regulate their vehicles' emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), including carbon dioxide. The two Texas lawmakers say that has inspired their current mission to clean up the tailpipes of Texas's titanic trucks.

"We want to do as much as we can to cut down on global warming, and we want to do as much as we can to clean up the environment," Ellis told KVUE News of Austin.

But since oil pollution concerns rank below roadkill skunk on Texas's popularity scale, Strama and Ellis can expect little help from the legislature.

GOP state Sen. Kip Averitt of Waco, who chairs the Senate Natural Resources Committee, told KVUE he'd give the bill a hearing this Thursday. But he thinks it needs "a lot more consideration than we have time for in this [legislative] session."

Averitt also fears that the bill sends the wrong message to voters on costs and regulation. "In other words, tell Texans they can't drive a truck, they have to drive a small car," he concluded.

Dead skunk smells way better'n that.