Free Republic

As part of a massive, pre-holiday weekend document dump by the Biden administration on June 30, the domestic oil and gas industry received an unwelcome gift from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), one that shifts Mr. Biden’s continuing war on oil and gas to the Permian Basin. In a notice published in the Federal Register, USFWS said it has determined a need to list the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard, long a topic of concern and controversy, as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. Though a day past deadline, the notice of proposed listing will presumably satisfy a...

A respectful crowd of Permian Basin residents gathered at Midland Center on Wednesday to speak at a public hearing about the listing of the dunes sagebrush lizard as an endangered species. The listing possibly could shut down oil and gas, grazing and farming operations in Andrews, Crane, Gaines, Ward and Winkler counties in West Texas and Chaves, Eddy, Lea and Roosevelt counties in New Mexico. The hearing was conducted by officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, overseen by Jeff Humphrey, public outreach specialist with the service out of Arizona. Wally Murphy, New Mexico state field supervisor, told the...