Associated Press: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency offered on Thursday to work directly with Texas’ petrochemical industry in an effort to fix permits it says have long violated the Clean Air Act. The EPA’s offer is the latest in a drawn-out, public and politicized battle between the federal agency and Texas. The dispute evolved last month from a debate over pollution permitting into a pitched battle over states’ rights, reaching the tipping point when the EPA threatened to remove Texas’ …