A release posted on Congressman August Pfluger’s website announced that the congressman had introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) to nullify the Biden administration’s U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) final rule listing the dunes sagebrush lizard as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
“Listing the sagebrush lizard under the ESA is an incredible threat to energy production developed in the Permian Basin,” the release noted, adding that the congressman has “worked diligently to protect the Permian Basin from government overreach”.
The release highlighted that, in 2023, Pfluger introduced the Limiting Incredulous Zealots Against Restricting Drilling (LIZARD) act. A separate release posted on Pfluger’s site in July 2023 announced that the congressman had introduced the act “to strike the Biden administration’s recent rule designating the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard as endangered under the ESA”.
“Listing the dunes sagebrush lizard as an endangered species is another effort by the Biden administration to shut down drilling in the Permian Basin,” Pfluger said in the latest release.
“My Congressional Review Act nullifies President Biden’s attempt to use a lizard as a weapon against the oil and gas industry. I will not allow the president to take control of private property and kill energy jobs in the Permian Basin,” he added.
In the release, Ben Shepperd, the President of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association (PBPA), is quoted as stating, “the Permian Basin Petroleum Association is highly supportive of Congressman Pfluger’s CRA opposed to the latest listing decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the dunes sagebrush lizard”.
“The service’s arbitrary decision is not supported by the available science and flies in the face of the state sponsored conservation efforts, which include the enrollment of hundreds of thousands of acres and commitment of millions of dollars in both Texas and New Mexico,” he added.
“Congressman Pfluger is choosing to support the proven, effective conservation efforts already in place instead of the paperwork protections that would come with the service’s listing,” he continued.
“We are proud of the work PBPA members have done and will continue to do to be good stewards of our natural resources through volunteer conservation efforts, and greatly appreciate Congressman Pfluger’s recognition and support of the same,” Shepperd went on to state.
Dan Naatz, the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), said in the release that the IPAA has “grave concerns with the final rule to list the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard”.
“This listing is an assault on the oil and natural gas industry employees who live and work in the Permian Basin in both Texas and New Mexico,” he added.
“It appears that the Fish and Wildlife Service made no attempt to take into consideration the large amount of conservation work already done to protect the species and the successes of these programs,” he continued.
“IPAA believes that the decision to list the DSL is unwarranted and thanks Congressman Pfluger for all his efforts to stop this misguided listing decision,” Naatz went on to state.
Tim Tarpley, the President of the Energy Workforce and Technology Council (EWTC) said in the release, “the administration’s decision to list the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard as an endangered species is a politically motivated attack on the oil and gas industry, infringing on the private property rights of American citizens”.
“This designation jeopardizes over 88,000 direct jobs and approximately half a million indirect jobs in the Permian Basin, which are crucial to the oil and gas sector,” he added.
“The potential job losses threaten the economic stability of countless families, undermine American energy security, and hinder the nation’s economic growth,” he said.
“The men and women of the Energy Workforce sincerely appreciate Rep. Pfluger’s introduction of a CRA to overturn this reckless decision and protect American energy security,” Tarpley continued.
Rigzone has contacted the White House, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and the USFWS for comment on the releases posted on Pfluger’s site. The USFWS declined to comment. The White House and the DOE have not yet responded to Rigzone at the time of writing.
In a statement posted on the Texas Railroad Commission’s (RRC) site recently, which highlighted that the USFWS announced that it would be listing the Dune Sagebrush Lizard as an endangered species under the ESA, the RRC said the Biden administration made this designation “despite years of public and private collaborative efforts protecting the lizard, which have resulted in increased land conservation and rebounding populations”.
“This doesn’t have a thing to do with ‘saving lizards’, it’s about shutting down U.S. oil and gas production to win political brownie points, which will only increase inflation and jeopardize billions of lives globally,” RRC Commissioner Wayne Christian said in that statement.
The statement highlighted that Christian had sent a letter to the USFWS back in September last year opposing the ESA designation.
Rigzone previously asked the USFWS and the White House for comment on the RRC statement and Christian’s letter. The USFWS declined to comment and the White House did not respond to Rigzone’s request.
