Posted on 04/27/2011 10:20:47 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
It might, if the US Fish and Wildlife Service puts the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard on the endangered-species list. USFWS has an open period for public comment at the moment on the proposal, which if adopted could force oil companies in West Texas and New Mexico to close up shop. The industry argues that USFWS is relying on bad data and faulty methodology:
A three-inch lizard that thrives in desert conditions could shut down oil and gas operations in portions of Southeast New Mexico and in West Texas, including the state’s top two oil producing counties.
Called the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard, it is being considered for inclusion on the federal Endangered Species listing by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A public rally to oppose this move is being sponsored by the Permian Basin Petroleum Association on Tuesday, April 26 at Midland Center beginning at 5 p.m. Congressman Mike Conaway will speak, as will Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson; other public officials have been invited.
“We are very concerned about the Fish and Wildlife Service listing,” said Ben Shepperd, president of the PBPA, noting the service also has proposed listing the Lesser Prairie Chicken next year. “The wolf at the door is the lizard; we’re concerned listing it would shut down drilling activity for a minimum of two years and as many as five years while the service determines what habitat is needed for the lizard. That means no drilling, no seismic surveys, no roads built, no electric lines.”
Well, thank goodness we overproduce into big surpluses of domestic oil, and fuel is so cheap. Otherwise, killing off the oil industry in West Texas might really hurt consumers with higher prices on everything, starting with gasoline and quickly inflating food prices. What’s that — huh? Oh, yeah.
My friend Hugh Hewitt, who practices in environmental law when not hosting his excellent talk-radio show, explains the mischief behind abuses of the Endangered Species Act:
This lizard isn’t protected under the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) —yet. But if the industry, lessees and land owners, and affiliated businesses and communities do not rally to present the necessary science and defend against the typically hyperbolic claims of the species’ imminent demise due to “habitat fragmentation” presented by anti-growth, anti-energy environmental extremists, the lizard will soon add another burden to the business of energy production, just as scores of species listings in other states have diminished economic growth across a number of industries.
The abuse of the ESA is more than two decades old, but is now something of a science on the left, and the sporadic attempts to amend the ESA over the years have all come to naught. I have battled such listing for 20 years and it is crucial not just for the soon-to-be-impacted property-owners and industry interests to organize, but also for the House Natural Resource Committee to exercise oversight on this proposed listing and all new listings and to make sure that the administrative record is full of arguments against the listing and especially against the entire theory of “habitat loss” as a rationale for a listing.
This issue must be raised in Congress. It’s just as important to curtail the abuse of the ESA as it is to rein in the EPA. The dry lands of the formerly-productive California Central Valley and the thousands out of work over the Delta smelt can attest to these dynamics.
I have a strong feeling that this Lizard dude was taken from some other place by the enviros and placed in this Oil Rich area....
Gee, I had three of them in an ommellete this morning. Damn, I didn’t know.
I wonder how many you need for a pair of boots?
Lizard Listing at Center of Debate
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2711317/posts
Endangered listing of lizard may shut down Texas oil
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2711190/posts
Obama Clears the Way to Shut Down Oil Production in the Permian Basin of West Texas
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2710524/posts
Obama Clears the Way For America’s 2 Largest Oil Wells to be Shutdown in Texas
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2710255/posts
Could a three-inch lizard collapse the West Texas oil industry?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2709797/posts
Did I miss any?
“Did I miss any?”
Rare lizard causes local concerns
http://www.oaoa.com/articles/lizard-64120-dunes-concerns.html
Lizard regulations could jeopardize local economy(Enviros try to shut down NM O&G)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2708340/posts
Thanks!
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