AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the Biden administration officials, as well as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Department of the Interior over the classification of the dunes sagebrush lizard as an endangered species.
According to a release from Paxton’s office, the lawsuit says that the designation is in violation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Paxton said by making the dunes sagebrush lizard endangered, it “unduly undermine vital economic development in the Permian Basin, subjecting Texas industries and private landowners to regulatory uncertainty and ambiguity about what they can do with their own land.”
The Permian Basin is one of the areas the U.S. Fish and Wildlife says that the dunes sagebrush lizard is found. The Permian Basin is also an area key for producing oil and gas.
“The Biden-Harris Administration’s unlawful misuse of environmental law is a backdoor attempt to undermine Texas’s oil and gas industries which help keep the lights on for America,” Paxton said in the release. “I warned that we would sue over this illegal move, and now we will see them in court.”
You can read the filing here
In a statement made upon the new designation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said oil and gas companies can use horizontal drilling to reach deposits without disrupting the lizards' habitat.
The department also said about 100 ranchers and 100 oil and gas partners have entered into voluntary agreements to use conservation practices in regards to endangered species while continuing to manage their land.
"Although new enrollment in these voluntary agreements ends when the listing rule is final and effective, the Service has multiple tools and programs to work with industry, private landowners, and public agencies to streamline and ensure compliance with the ESA," the department said in a statement.
Despite this, Sen. Ted Cruz introduced a bill that would reverse the lizard's designation as an endangered species in July.
"The Biden administration has used the federal government to suppress American energy production at the exact time when the country and indeed the world needs access to affordable American energy," Cruz said when he introduced the bill to the Senate. "This disastrous rule threatens American jobs and undermines the production of energy in the Permian Basin. I call on the Senate to expeditiously take up and pass my legislation to reverse it."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service identified the lizards as needing protection as far back as 1982 due to the destruction of their habitat for agriculture, according to NewsWest 9.
We have reached out to U.S. Fish and Wildlife for a response and to find out how a species, specifically the dunes sagebrush lizard, becomes endangered.
About the dunes sagebrush lizard
The dunes sagebrush lizard is found in southeastern New Mexico and western Texas. This is a still image from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services website of where they’re found.
They have an average snout-to-vent length of 2.8 inches for females and 2.6 inches for males. They were endangered as of June 20, 2024.
