Free Republic

Democratic staffers on the House Resources Committee have released a “discussion draft” that would raise the royalties companies pay to drill on federal lands from 12.5 to 18.75 percent and shorten lease terms from 10 to five years. Oil and gas companies, which still give twice as much to Republicans as to Democrats, are already fighting a push to repeal $31 billion in tax breaks and a climate change bill that could reduce demand for their products. They are now facing a third threat: the House Democratic bill that could cost the industry billions of dollars more for drilling on...

...Of the nearly 1,300 domestic species on the endangered list, the law has managed to "recover" a grand total of 10. That's a success rate of less than 1%. ...But even the trends don't look good. A mere 36% of listed species are considered stable or improving. And even this 36% is nothing to celebrate, given that in many cases the only reason a species is deemed on the mend is because officials overstated the problem in the first place. When the plant, Johnston's frankenia, was first listed, it was thought to have dwindled to about 1,500 specimens. Oops, someone...