Growls

With America’s economy struggling, not to mention the significant lack of jobs, and with citizens threatened with paying $5.00 for gasoline, environmental bureaucrats in the federal government “may be trying to drastically reduce gas and petroleum production in Southeast New Mexico, and perhaps West Texas for the really important reason of protecting the continuing viability of a creature I'm sure you all know and love, the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard,” according to an item in yesterday’s American Thinker.

The New Mexico Watchdog reported it this way last Friday:

“It’s just a little ole thing — no more than three inches long and its skin practically blends into the dusty ground of southeast New Mexico.

“It’s the dunes sagebrush lizard – known as Sceloporous arenicolus in scientific terms — and the reptile has become the centerpiece of a fight between environmentalists who want to see it put on the endangered species list and supporters of oil and natural gas interests who fear federal protection for a creature so hard to find that almost nobody in the Oil Patch has ever even seen one could shut down an industry vital to the New Mexico economy.

“The US Fish and Wildlife Service says the dunes sagebrush lizard is in danger of extinction in southeast New Mexico and parts of west Texas. Last December, the agency proposed listing the lizard under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, which would give the reptile federal protection.

“But the lizard’s habitat includes a large portion of land — much of it on federal property — that is leased by oil and gas companies and some people in the area fear that aggressive enforcement of the Endangered Species Act would threaten their means of making a living.

“Rep. Steve Pearce (R-New Mexico) of the US House of Representatives is leading the charge against placing the lizard on the endangered species list. “Most of the oil and gas jobs in southeast New Mexico are at risk,” Pearce told the Carlsbad Current-Argus in an article published April 18. “In the ’70s, they listed the spotted owl as endangered and it killed the entire timber industry.”

The Las Cruces Sun-News reports the lizard “is native to some of the most productive oil-producing regions in the state (and) could have devastating consequences on the economies of the region and the entire state.” And indeed, the oil industry has worked to protect the lizard, as the Sun-News editorial points out:

“The New Mexico Oil and Gas Association has provided money for research and mapping of the area to ensure roads are not built in areas that would disturb the reptile, association President Steve Henke said. And, producers have avoided drilling in the area where the lizard is known to live, he said. "We feel like we can co-exist with the lizard. (But) the Endangered Species Act makes everything cumbersome, lengthy, litigious," he said.”

As Ben Sheppard, president of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association opines in an MyWestTexas.com op-ed:

“However, the so-called science on which the federal government bases its “guilty until proven innocent” verdict against the energy industry is as dusty as the West Texas desert in which it thrives. Known distributions of the sand dune lizard today are based on data from the 1960s and a handful of recent very small sample studies. According to the federal proposal, much of the lizard’s habitat in Texas is found on private lands, which have yet to be properly surveyed. As well, the public lands surveys are imprecise and incomplete.

[ . . . ]

"Members of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association revere the wonder of our surrounding lands, and many are active leaders in conservation efforts locally and nationally. However, we also believe the industry that sustains eight million jobs in Texas and contributes billions of dollars to local and state budgets --- including the State’s “Economic Stabilization” or Rainy Day Fund --- can co-exist with wildlife.”

Talk about a "caring" government, eh. Sure is something to remember the next time you’re filling-up at more than $4.00 per gallon.