Oil and gas producers in the Permian Basin, including those from Oklahoma, might not have to be concerned about protecting the habitat of a lizzard who lives in the largest oil-producing region of the country.
The Trump administration agreed to remove the endangered species protection of the dunes sagebrush lizard. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service put the lizard on the protected list in May 2024 after determining the oil and gas development in the Basin made the loss of its habitat”effectively permanent.”
Two years later, the agency contends it made a “serious and fundamental” mistake by improperly assume the habitat restoration could not happen and by also discounting experimental efforts that “show promise,” according to a recent U.S. Justice Department court filing as part of a lawsuit originally filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The error, stated the filing, “led to an incomplete and potentially inaccurate assessment of the portential and ongoing conservation efforts in New Mexico and Texas.”
The filing is a move to settle the lawsuit but it still must be approved by a federal judge in Midland, Texas. If such a legal settlement is approved,it would require the Fish and Wildlife Service to take another look at the listing it made in May of 2024.
The DOJ filing is seen as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back environmental regulations and efforts of the Biden administration. Critics have responded by arging the efforts only weaken protections for air, water and public health, according to Reuters.
When the listing was made two years ago, Texas Attorney General Paxton filed suit against the federal government and claimed the move to list the dunes sagebrush lizard was “endangered” was part of the Biden administration’s efforts to under the oil and gas industry.
The lizard lives in the shrublands and dunes of the two states where the Permian Basin is located. The Fishand Wild lawsuit filed that year by the state of Texas against the federal government. At the time, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) said the move to list the dunes sagebrush lizard as endangered was part of the Biden administration’s efforts to undermine oil and gas production.
The lizard lives in shrublands and the conclusion of the Fish and Wildlife Service came after more than 20 years of debate over whether the lizard should receive government protection from more oil and gas production.
