Texas Lawsuit Targets Biden’s Endangered Species Policy

United States – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday accused the Biden administration of making a politically motivated and unwarranted move when the dunes sagebrush lizard was listed as an endangered species, which ultimately threatened not only property owners but energy production as well, as reported by Reuters.

Accusations of Faulty Data

In May of last year, as a member of the Republican Party, Paxton said the US Fish and Wildlife Service used inaccurate data and false assumptions about the persistence of the lizard in promulgating a final decision on the animal’s extinction on May 20.

He explained that implementing this conclusion, presuming people couldn’t set up businesses and on the other hand, lizards would increase due to the great overlap, which would affect both in a big way between the resources of rich and poor, the lizards and the people was a decision taken by authorities that consequently brought about very complex infrastructure projects across some parts of the world, especially in Permian Basin − the prime oil-producing area in the country.

Legal Action

At present, a federal court lawsuit is pending at the court in Midland, Texas, in order to have the final rule nullified.

To be clear, Paxton has filed numerous lawsuits against the Biden administration policies.

Ongoing Debate

The Republicans prosecuted the Democrats for putting environmental laws to work and forcing their way around the very system through the employment of severe regulations to minimize the oil and gas industries of Texas, which produce the lights of America in the same statement.

The paper was unable to get a federal Fish and Wildlife Service official, an Interior Department agency, to respond to the issue. Both agencies were cited as defendants, as reported by Reuters.

Case Information

Texas Railroad Commission, a state agency that controls the oil and gas sector, called on Paxton to deny the lizard’s endangered status last month and objected to the reason for the listing, stating it was irrelevant.

The constricted range of the dunes sagebrush lizard is limited to 1.25 million acres (1,953 square miles), according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

The case is Texas v. U.S. Department of the Interior et al, U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas, No. 24-00233.