Mon Sep 23 21:30:00 UTC 2024: ## Texas Sues Federal Government Over Endangered Lizard Listing, Citing Harm to Oil Industry
**Midland, Texas** – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration challenging the designation of the dunes sagebrush lizard as an endangered species. Paxton argues the listing, based on “faulty data and arbitrary assumptions,” will harm property owners and hinder energy production in the state’s vital Permian Basin oil region.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Midland, seeks to overturn the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s final rule declaring the lizard endangered, which was adopted in May 2023.
Paxton, a Republican, accuses the Biden administration of “weaponizing environmental law” and using the listing as a “backdoor attempt to undermine Texas’s oil and gas industries.” He claims the designation threatens private landowners’ ability to conduct business while arguing that the lizard’s survival is not jeopardized due to its vast geographic range.
The Railroad Commission of Texas, the state regulator for oil and gas, had urged Paxton to challenge the listing in June, calling it “nothing more than a political game.”
Texas currently accounts for a significant portion of the nation’s oil and gas production, with 43% of its crude oil and 27% of its marketed natural gas coming from the state in 2023, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The dunes sagebrush lizard, found across 1.25 million acres, is considered threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, prompting the federal listing.
The U.S. Department of the Interior, which includes the Fish and Wildlife Service, declined to comment on the lawsuit.
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