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2 Texas plants are considered for endangered list [mining, oil and gas development blamed]
Houston Chronicle ^ | September 16, 2012 | Matthew Tresaugue Environment reporter

Posted on 09/16/2012 5:29:12 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife

The humble yellow flower, no bigger than a quarter, shows itself only three months a year, in places where few people will ever see it.

The Texas golden gladecress, it seems, is as close as a living thing can be to not being there at all.

In fact, the plant, found only in the wet glades of East Texas, has all but disappeared because of mining activity, oil and gas development and more, prompting the federal government this week to propose listing it as an endangered species.............................................

(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: endangeredspecies; energy; environment; gas; green; mining; oil; snaildarter
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E.P.A. Official in Texas Quits Over ‘Crucify’ Video - "WASHINGTON — The top Environmental Protection Agency official in Texas has resigned over a two-year-old video circulated by Congressional Republicans of a speech in which he declared that the agency should hit polluters with its full powers, citing the Roman practice of crucifying enemies as a deterrent. [“It is kind of like how the Romans used to conquer villages in the Mediterranean — they’d go into a little Turkish town somewhere and they’d find the first five guys they saw and they’d crucify them,” Mr. Armendariz said on the tape. “Then that little town was really easy to manage for the next few years.” ]

Al Armendariz, who oversaw federal environmental enforcement in five states, offered his resignation on Sunday in a letter to Lisa P. Jackson, the E.P.A. administrator, saying he regretted his comments and did not want to jeopardize the agency’s mission. Senior agency officials had upbraided Dr. Armendariz, who holds a doctorate in environmental engineering, for what they called his “inappropriate and inaccurate” comments about the agency’s enforcement policy.

Ms. Jackson accepted his resignation on Monday morning. It had become clear in recent days that Republicans intended to continue to use Dr. Armendariz’s comments as ammunition in their continuing conflict with the Obama administration over environmental regulation.

“I respect the difficult decision he made and his wish to avoid distracting from the important work of the agency,” Ms. Jackson said. “We are all grateful for Dr. Armendariz’s service to E.P.A. and to our nation.”

Although administration officials said that Dr. Armendariz’s resignation was voluntary, he was left with little choice but to leave the agency to avoid further embarrassing President Obama, who is seeking re-election..........................."

__________________

" EPA Official Not Only Touted 'Crucifying' Oil Companies, He Tried It Confirming what many in the industry long suspected, a video surfaced Wednesday in which Al Armendariz, an official at the Environmental Protection Agency, promotes the idea of crucifying oil companies. Armendariz heads up the EPA’s region 6 office, which is based in Dallas and responsible for oversight of Texas and surrounding states. The former professor at Southern Methodist University was appointed by President Obama in November 2009...........And not only has Armendariz talked about crucifying oil companies, he’s tried to do it. In 2010 his office targeted Range Resources, a Fort Worth-based driller that was among the first to discover the potential of the Marcellus Shale gas field of Pennsylvania — the biggest gas field in America and one of the biggest in the world. Armendariz’s office declared in an emergency order that Range’s drilling activity had contaminated groundwater in Parker County, Texas.

>>>>"The Romans used to conquer little villages in the Mediterranean. They’d go into a little Turkish town somewhere, they’d find the first five guys they saw and they would crucify them. And then you know that town was really easy to manage for the next few years.

And so you make examples out of people who are in this case not compliant with the law. Find people who are not compliant with the law, and you hit them as hard as you can and you make examples out of them, and there is a deterrent effect there. And, companies that are smart see that, they don’t want to play that game, and they decide at that point that it’s time to clean up.

And, that won’t happen unless you have somebody out there making examples of people. So you go out, you look at an industry, you find people violating the law, you go aggressively after them. And we do have some pretty effective enforcement tools. Compliance can get very high, very, very quickly.

That’s what these companies respond to is both their public image but also financial pressure. So you put some financial pressure on a company, you get other people in that industry to clean up very quickly."<<<<

.........Texas Monthly called him one of the 25 most powerful Texans, while the Houston Chronicle said he’s “the most feared environmentalist in the state.”

Nevermind that he couldn’t prove jack against Range. For a year and a half EPA bickered over the issue, both with Range and with the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates oil and gas drilling and did its own scientific study of Range’s wells and found no evidence that they polluted anything. In recent months a federal judge slapped the EPA, decreeing that the agency was required to actually do some scientific investigation of wells before penalizing the companies that drilled them. Finally in March the EPA withdrew its emergency order and a federal court dismissed the EPA’s case..........."

1 posted on 09/16/2012 5:29:19 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
"You better take that back, I'm warnin' ya!"
2 posted on 09/16/2012 5:36:09 AM PDT by GeronL (The Right to Life came before the Right to Pursue Happiness)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

The solution is quite simple. Begin a search and destroy mission.

If the plant in question is really threatened, the places where it grows are few and the actual concentration in those few locations great.

The effort should be to take some Roundup to those few locations and destroy the concentrations. If the species is eradicated,the species is not endangered.


3 posted on 09/16/2012 5:37:02 AM PDT by bert ((K.E. N.P. N.C. +12 ..... Present failure and impending death yield irrational action))
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The effort should be to take some Roundup to those few locations and destroy the concentrations. If the species is eradicated,the species is not endangered.

Absolutely brilliant but then that is expected from fellow Freepers.

Now for your next insightful theory, care to suggest how we could come up with some sort of “Roundup” that we could use to spray Libs with? lol

Figuratively speaking of course and not “literally” just in case any of that Fat Beatch’s (Big Sis) jack-booted thugs from the DHS are monitoring us as we know they are.


4 posted on 09/16/2012 5:52:54 AM PDT by neveralib
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
And, that won’t happen unless you have somebody out there making examples of people.
So you go out, you look at an industry, you find people violating the law, you go aggressively after them.
And we do have some pretty effective enforcement tools.
Compliance can get very high, very, very quickly.


             

5 posted on 09/16/2012 5:57:59 AM PDT by tomkat (... shall NOT be infringed)
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To: neveralib

July, 29 2012, huh?...Now for your next insightful theory, care to suggest how we could come up with some sort of “Roundup” that we could use to spray Libs with? lol... Yeah, I bought some last week. It’s called CCR.


6 posted on 09/16/2012 6:07:04 AM PDT by Safetgiver ( Islam makes barbarism look genteel.)
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To: bert
I saw an interview (Fox and Friends last week) with a man involved in the construction job linked below. He said he wishes now he'd of stepped on it. The powers that be collected and dissected it (as in, it's now dead) and proclaimed the spider is on "the list" -- no other spiders there but the job site is shut down.

Rare spider found in Texas shuts down $15M construction project ............."Josh Donat, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Transportation, said the recent discovery is only the second time the species has been spotted in more than 30 years. ............

Donat said the construction project near Highway 151 and Wiseman Road, which began in April, will be put on hold indefinitely as U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials and the Federal Highway Administration consider ways to proceed. The project became subject to the Endangered Species Act once the rare spider was discovered, he said.

The find could halt the project altogether, officials said, as residents who live in the North San Antonio Hills section say they’re frustrated with the situation......."

7 posted on 09/16/2012 6:12:03 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Oh. I thought you meant industrial plants. But it was weeds. Silly me.


8 posted on 09/16/2012 6:18:23 AM PDT by Hardraade (http://junipersec.wordpress.com (I will fear no muslim))
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To: Hardraade

Good one. :) :(


9 posted on 09/16/2012 6:39:28 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
“In fact, the plant, found only in the wet glades of East Texas, has all but disappeared because of mining activity, oil and gas development and more, prompting the federal government this week to propose listing it as an endangered species.............................................”

That sounds like “A Roundup ready” project for someone that is sick of the Greenie liberal pukes that block everything being built or drilled.

10 posted on 09/16/2012 6:56:41 AM PDT by Beagle8U (Free Republic -- One stop shopping ....... It's the Conservative Super WalMart for news .)
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To: bert

Texas should re-classify the flower as a dangerous weed or parasite that threatens oil and gas facilities, and send out spray trucks to eradicate it.


11 posted on 09/16/2012 6:59:19 AM PDT by montag813
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

First they tried to stop drilling because of a friggin lizard. Now it’s a flower?

These people are certifiably insane.


12 posted on 09/16/2012 7:07:14 AM PDT by unixfox (Abolish Slavery, Repeal The 16th Amendment!)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
.........Texas Monthly called him one of the 25 most powerful Texans, while the Houston Chronicle said he’s “the most feared environmentalist in the state.”

It amazes me that Rick Perry never took this douchebag on, by denying resources or law enforcement support or authority to EPA agents, for example. Texas has an almost unique ability to thwart the Federal government by threatening to withhold tax receipts, since they send so much more than they get back. I would love to see how the EPA or Fish and Wildlife would react if Texas DPS officers blocked them from raiding a businesses, or entering a "wetland" site. Would Obama call out the National Guard? PLEASE try it, Gov. Perry.

13 posted on 09/16/2012 7:07:29 AM PDT by montag813
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To: montag813
Texas spends big bucks suing federal government ..........................".Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said the costs are worth it, calling the litigation "a fight against the unprecedented ideology coming from the Obama administration." In an interview, he said the legal battles he wages are meant to promote industry and protect Texas jobs.

Abbott took office in 2002 and sued the federal government three times between 2004 and 2007 while fellow Republican George W. Bush was president. But the floodgates opened under Obama, with Texas suing two dozen times since 2010. Sixteen of Abbott's lawsuits challenged environmental regulations.

....Texas has won five of Abbott's 27 cases, lost eight and had two others dismissed because the regulations or laws being challenged were lifted or repealed by Congress. The other 12 are pending....."

14 posted on 09/16/2012 7:16:08 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: unixfox
Sept 5, 2012 - Central Texas salamander debate continues - "WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas -- The discussion surrounding a Central Texas salamander continues Wednesday.

Those in favor of, and opposing, adding four species of the animal to the endangered list have a chance to learn more about the proposal.

On Aug. 22 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a proposal to add four salamander species in Central Texas to the endangered species list. If the salamanders are added, it would affect about 6,000 acres in Travis, Williamson and Bell Counties.

Officials in all of the counties have argued this would hinder further development of the land in the designated areas.

Congressman John Carter agrees. He, along with Senator John Cornyn, introduced legislation to try and block the addition of the four salamander species to the endangered list.

"Five communities can preserve these species without the imposition of the federal government. The less we have the federal government around here, the better we are," Rep. Carter said......."

___________________

Sept 10, 2012 - Why the Fight Over Salamanders in Texas is Only Just Beginning...................."Why are so many species suddenly up for inclusion in the list? The reason is a legal settlement reached last year between the Service and conservation groups. The groups charged Fish and Wildlife with dragging its feet on classifying the animals. In the settlement, the Service agreed to propose 251 species for endangered status over a period of six years.

“So what you’re seeing now is the Service going through that work plan nationwide as part of that settlement agreement,” Adam Zerrenner, the Austin Field Office supervisor for Fish and Wildlife tells StateImpact Texas.

That lawsuit could significantly increase the number of endangered species listed. In the past ten years, an average of about 13 species were listed as endangered annually across the whole country. Now Texas, and the rest of the country, are bracing for fights over the proposed new listings. Among the 251 species included in the settlement now up for the endangered classification, 21 animals and plants are in Texas alone.

And once a species is proposed for listing, the clock starts ticking.

“Per that nationwide settlement agreement, these Salamanders, they had to be looked at this year and then finalized next year,” said Zerrener.

Notice he said, ‘finalized,’ not ‘listed.’ Earlier this year , another species that was proposed as part of the settlement, the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard, did not end up on the list, after an outcry from oil companies and ranchers in West Texas. Not to mention conservative Texas politicians.

Now, it could be the Salamanders turn."......................

15 posted on 09/16/2012 7:23:19 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Not to mention they just shut down a 15 million dollar road project in San Antonio because they found a blind spider.


16 posted on 09/16/2012 7:27:56 AM PDT by unixfox (Abolish Slavery, Repeal The 16th Amendment!)
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To: unixfox

The EPA Obama-environmentalist have Texas in the “we will make your lives hell” bulls eye [the Texas soaring economy is making much of the rest of the country look bad].


17 posted on 09/16/2012 7:37:55 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

They just can’t stand the fact that we are surviving quite nicely here in Texas. Despite their efforts to try and destroy the oil industry here.


18 posted on 09/16/2012 7:42:10 AM PDT by unixfox (Abolish Slavery, Repeal The 16th Amendment!)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
...found only in the wet glades of East Texas, has all but disappeared because of mining activity...

What are they mining in those "wet glades"...mud?

19 posted on 09/16/2012 9:05:54 AM PDT by philman_36 (Pride breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty, and supped with infamy. Benjamin Franklin)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Should have stomped it into an unrecognizable grease spot; no spider, no problem!


20 posted on 09/16/2012 9:21:40 AM PDT by 5th MEB (Progressives in the open; --- FIRE FOR EFFECT!!)
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