{"id":332,"date":"2012-06-20T04:34:50","date_gmt":"2012-06-20T04:34:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/?p=332"},"modified":"2014-02-09T05:29:50","modified_gmt":"2014-02-09T05:29:50","slug":"sand-dune-lizar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/blog\/2012\/06\/sand-dune-lizar\/","title":{"rendered":"Doing a Happy Jig Over the Sand Dune Lizard Decision – Article by Marita Noon"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"The<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Marita Noon
\n<\/big><\/big><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
June 19, 2012<\/big><\/span><\/div>\n
Recommend this page<\/a>.<\/strong><\/div>\n
******************************<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

The American public has awakened and is acutely aware of the damage environmentally driven policy is doing to America\u2019s citizens and economy. The decision not<\/em> to add the sand dune lizard to the list of species protected under the Endangered Species Act, announced Wednesday by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), was precipitated by public involvement as the citizens of Texas and New Mexico wrote the FWS, showed up at public rallies, and spoke up at official hearings in opposition to the listing. The listing of the sand dune lizard had the potential annual cost of more than $35 billion to the American economy due to lost oil production alone.<\/p>\n

Most endangered species listings are proposed and then listed with little fanfare. The public is often totally unaware the listing is possible and the negative economic consequences on the local and national economy are not considered. But this time it was different. Armed with the history of the devastating impacts an endangered species listing can have on communities and economies\u2014such as the spotted owl and the delta smelt\u2014New Mexico Congressman Steve Pearce drew a line in the sand and stood up for the citizens who would be impacted most by the proposed listing of the sand dune lizard. Congressman Pearce\u2019s efforts were augmented by Texas Congressman Mike Conaway and Texas Senator John Cornyn\u2014each deserves plaudits from the people.<\/p>\n

In December of 2010<\/a>, the FWS announced the nomination of the sand dune lizard for listing as an endangered species\u2014a move that was prompted by a petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Chihuahuan Desert Conservation Alliance.<\/p>\n

Ben Shepperd, of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, explains it this way: \u201cThe Endangered Species Act in current form is being exploited by activist groups that generate income for themselves while hiding behind a pretense of protecting the environment. Suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is a cottage industry for them. Regardless of the decision rendered in their manifold lawsuits, the groups receive legal fees\u2014our taxpayer dollars\u2014from the federal government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout 2011, people came together. Community meetings were held and the stakeholders were engaged\u2014even enraged. Large public rallies with hundreds in attendance took place in Roswell and Artesia, NM, and Midland, TX. News crews gave the issue national attention. Independent scientists gathered to examine the science<\/a> behind the listing and found it full of flaws, assumptions, and erroneous conclusions\u2014issuing a report, which was given to FWS.<\/p>\n

In December 2011<\/a>, when the Endangered Species Act required a \u201clist,\u201d \u201cdecline to list,\u201d or \u201cdelay\u201d decision, the FWS announced that it was exercising the \u201cdelay\u201d option\u2014which gave the agency six more months to study the newly presented evidence.<\/p>\n

Concerned citizens and the oil and gas industry have been anxiously awaiting the decision.<\/p>\n

Congressman Pearce called the decision a \u201chuge victory for the people who have so tirelessly fought to save their jobs and their way of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar praised the efforts of the oil and gas industry in working to preserve the lizard\u2019s habitat through Candidate Conservation Agreements, saying they were \u201cnothing short of historic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, environmental groups are claiming that the \u201cDepartment of Interior sold out to big oil.\u201d<\/p>\n

The listing of the sand dune lizard had the potential to virtually shut down oil and gas development in the Permian Basin region of Southeastern New Mexico and West Texas\u2014an area responsible for 20% of America\u2019s domestic production. If the decision had come down on the side of listing the lizard, it may well have decimated the local economies and had the potential to raise gas prices nationwide due to reduced supply.<\/p>\n

The publicity the proposed sand dune lizard listing attracted has, perhaps, gotten the attention of the Obama campaign\u2014which may have influenced the outcome. After all, could he afford to hurt a major portion of the economy in a swing state just months before the election?<\/p>\n

The sand dune lizard victory should be an example for concerned citizens everywhere\u2014regardless of the issue. Wake up, show up, stand up, and speak up!<\/p>\n

Celebrate while we can! The lesser prairie chicken and the jobs it may endanger are next. Without a looming election, we might not be so lucky. But then again, maybe the election will change everything.<\/p>\n

The author of <\/em>Energy Freedom<\/em><\/a>, Marita Noon serves as the executive director for <\/em>Energy Makes America Great, Inc<\/em><\/a>., and the companion educational organization, the <\/em>Citizens\u2019 Alliance for Responsible Energy<\/em><\/a> <\/em>(CARE). Together they work to educate the public and influence policy makers regarding energy and its role in freedom and in the American way of life. Combining commentary on energy, news, politics, and, the environment through public events, speaking engagements, and media, the organizations\u2019 combined efforts serve as America\u2019s voice for energy.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marita Noon June 19, 2012 Recommend this page. ****************************** The American public has awakened and is acutely aware of the damage environmentally driven policy is doing to America\u2019s citizens and economy. The decision not to add the sand dune lizard to the list of species protected under the Endangered Species Act, announced Wednesday by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), was precipitated by public involvement as the citizens of Texas and New Mexico wrote the FWS, showed up at…<\/p>\n

Read More Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,662],"tags":[749,750,752,18,746,741,747,720,509,510,740,742,84,59,739,751,744,14,95,322,743,748,745,25],"class_list":["post-332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-science-2","tag-activism","tag-department-of-interior","tag-development","tag-economy","tag-endangered-species","tag-endangered-species-act","tag-endangered-species-listing","tag-energy","tag-environment","tag-environmentalism","tag-environmentalists","tag-fish-and-wildlife-service","tag-freedom","tag-liberty","tag-marita-noon","tag-natural-gas","tag-new-mexico","tag-oil","tag-progress","tag-prosperity","tag-sand-dune-lizard","tag-steve-pearce","tag-texas","tag-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2136,"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332\/revisions\/2136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}