The Permian Basin Petroleum and Texas Oil & Gas associations hope a letter just sent to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service by State Sens. Kevin Sparks, Pete Flores and Charles Perry will dissuade the agency from declaring the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard an endangered species and trying to stop oil and natural gas production in the Permian Basin.
“The PBPA and our members greatly appreciate the leadership of these senators in pushing back against the weaponization of the Endangered Species Act,” PBPA President Ben Shepperd said Tuesday. “Our members support the state-led, voluntary conservation measures that have demonstrated success and we look forward to continue working with all stakeholders to protect species, habitats and the Permian Basin’s natural resources industries.
“The development of these resources helps provide for the betterment of millions of lives in Texas, New Mexico and around the globe,” Shepperd said.
TXOGA President Todd Staples said Monday from Austin that Russian’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s fight against Hamas “serve as a stark reminder that policies designed to thwart domestic oil and natural gas production threaten national security.
“Evaluating endangered species must give full credit to the robust efforts of industry,” Staples said. “The oil and gas industry has led the way as stakeholders across Texas clearly demonstrated their continued commitment to sustained responsible development.”
Staples said millions of dollars have voluntarily been invested and a great deal of research performed to ensure an appropriate balance between protecting the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard and responsibly growing jobs and Texas’ economy through the development of oil and gas.
“TXOGA thanks Sens. Kevin Sparks, Pete Flores and Charles Perry for their letter to the Fish & Wildlife Service and their continued work to provide energy security through sound policy which allows for the production of these irreplaceable resources while taking every step to safeguard the environment,” he said.
Sparks is from Midland, Flores from Pleasanton, 40 miles south of San Antonio, and Perry from Lubbock.
In their Oct. 5 letter to FWS Director Martha Williams the senators said they wanted “to highlight the inconsistencies between your agency’s stated reasons for designation and to ask that you consider the economic effect that such a designation would have on the oil and gas industry in the Permian Basin region because more evidence needs to be gathered before such a dire step is taken.
“It is crucial that the Endangered Species Act remains true to its original purpose of safeguarding species without being used for political purposes and that the agency considers existing voluntary conservation agreements that landowners have forged over the years with the federal government as well as established U.S. Supreme Court precedent,” they wrote.
Representing Senate District 31, Sparks said, “There is no reliable evidence that oil and gas drilling influences the change in climate conditions in the Permian Basin.
“The proposed rule cites ‘climate change and climate conditions’ as rationales for the Fish & Wildlife Service’s plans for implementation, yet sources fail to rank the Permian Basin anywhere near the top of the world’s or even the nation’s air quality polluters,” he said. In fact the federal government’s own data show that particulate matter trends show a 30 percent decrease of air pollution in the region in which the Permian Basin sits.”
With the FWS having cited frac-sand mining activities as a rationale for the potential designation, the senators pointed to a study that found the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard population may actually be increasing with captures of the lizard in 2022 being 1.7 times greater than in 2021 and 3 to 4 times greater than in 2019 and 2020.
“I want to thank my colleagues, Sen. Perry and Sen. Flores, for their support on this matter,” Sparks said. “As chairman of the Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Sen. Perry has extensive knowledge of the negative impacts that these politically charged designations can have on our economy.
“As a former Texas game warden colonel in charge of a $60-million budget, 27 field offices, 127 civilian employees and 532 commissioned Texas game wardens, Sen. Flores has extensive knowledge and experience with rural and agricultural issues such as these.
“We urge the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to approach the proposed rule with a commitment to species conservation and a thorough understanding of its potential economic implications as the Endangered Species Act requires. For the well-being of our constituents, our state and our nation a delicate balance between environmental protection and economic stability must be maintained.”
