Texas sues Biden Administration over lizards' endangered status, citing oil industry threat
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration Monday, claiming that the decision to declare the dunes sagebrush Lizard as an endangered species could harm property owners or energy production.
Paxton, who is a Republican, claimed that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service based its final rule, adopted on May 20, on inaccurate data and arbitrary assumptions regarding the future of the lizard.
He said that the move would threaten the ability of private landowners to conduct business, while also ensuring the survival of the lizard in its vast geographic range which overlaps the Permian basin, the most productive oil region in the United States.
The lawsuit filed at the federal court of Midland, Texas seeks to invalidate the final rule.
Paxton has brought numerous lawsuits against the policies of the Biden administration.
In a press release, he claimed that the Democratic Administration "weaponized environmental law" as a "backdoor effort to undermine Texas's Oil and Gas industries which helps keep the lights on in America."
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of the Interior which includes the Fish and Wildlife Service declined to comment. Both agencies were listed as defendants.
In June, the Railroad Commission of Texas (which regulates Texas' oil and gas industry) asked Paxton to contest the lizards' endangered status. They called the listing "nothing but a political game."
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Texas will account for 43% (of the nation's crude production) and 27% (of its marketed natural gases) of the nation’s marketed gas by 2023.
Fish and Wildlife Service stated that the dunes sagebrush Lizard's habitat spans 1,25 million acres (1.953 square mile).
Texas v. U.S. Department of the Interior et al., U.S. District Court Western District of Texas No. 24-00233. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel, New York, Editing by Marguerita Chôy
(source: Reuters)
