Cowboy
Wait for it.
Unfriggenbeleivable, it wont be long and we will be the only ones that are extinct. 
December 25, 2011 6:00 AM
Peggy Venable
A little lizard or thousands of jobs? The livelihoods of thousands of West Texas families are endangered and action must be taken today. If the government moves forward with a plan to name the three-inch long Dunes Sagebrush Lizard to the endangered species list, tens of thousands of jobs in Texas will be lost and millions of dollars will be removed from the economy, devastating our fragile recovery. Mind you, this lizard was listed as a subspecies until recently. The Center for Biological Diversity filed a petition asking the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service to grant an endangered species listing for the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard, which lives in the Permian Basin of West Texas. The Permian Basin is the most abundant oil-producing region in the lower 48 states and a vast sector of the Texas economy responsible for 68% of Texas’ production. The granting of an endangered listing for this little lizard would be a monumental economic disaster.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stated that if status is granted, oil drilling would be significantly limited and all new oil-drilling permits would be denied. Furthermore, more than 30 percent of jobs and income in Texas are from the Permian Basin area. The loss of production would hurt families already struggling to get by in this rough economy.
Prices at the pump would skyrocket in Texas and nationwide--taking more money from families already on a tight budget. This loss of oil production would also lead to less tax dollars for schools and other important community services. The oil and gas industry currently pays approximately $7.4 billion in state and local taxes in Texas.
The oil industry is not the only area of the economy which would be seriously harmed. The housing industry, which is just beginning to rebound, would be shut down in West Texas too. And the ripple effect from the economic losses would likely impact all sectors of the economy from pizza delivery to hair salons and from dry cleaners to florists. It is important to note that the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard’s “endangered” status is widely argued among the scientific community with no clear answer. The lack of valid scientific proof and the grave harm that the endangered species listing could have on Texans and Americans is evidence enough to prevent the listing of this lizard as endangered.
This political strategy to gain endangered status for animals and essentially halting industries from doing their work also sets a dangerous precedent. One can look no further than the dramatic economic impact the placement of the spotted owl endangered species list had in Oregon. Twenty years ago I worked at the U.S. Department of the Interior when the spotted owl was placed on the endangered species list, effectively closing millions of acres of federal forests in Oregon and devastating a once flourishing timber industry.
Tens of thousands of jobs were lost and today, unemployment in Oregon is above the national average and in Douglas County, where the forestlands involved are located, the unemployment rate twenty years later is still above the national average. This high unemployment rate is directly related to the closings of sawmills and the loss of timber jobs. And still the spotted owl is at risk – now from a natural predator, not from man.
At what cost are we willing to place this lizard on the endangered species list, especially when the science is unclear at best? Are we really willing to lose countless jobs and millions of dollars in economic growth? When does the quality of life of humans come before lizards? Citizens can take action today on this critical issue which will destroy our economy by contacting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Help protect this critical industry in Texas and your pocketbooks by going to Regulations.gov or to www.afptx.org and commenting on this plan no later than midnight on Jan. 19. I urge each and every concerned taxpayer to make your voice heard. Our quality of life here in Texas depends on it.
Peggy Venable grew up in West Texas and is the State Director of Americans for Prosperity-Texas, a free-market nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and mobilizing citizens about sound economic policy. During the Reagan Administration, she served as director of Take Pride in America which was based at the U.S. Department of the Interior.
http://www.oaoa.com/articles/texas-78033-lizard-thousands.html
December 25, 2011 6:00 AM
Peggy Venable
A little lizard or thousands of jobs? The livelihoods of thousands of West Texas families are endangered and action must be taken today. If the government moves forward with a plan to name the three-inch long Dunes Sagebrush Lizard to the endangered species list, tens of thousands of jobs in Texas will be lost and millions of dollars will be removed from the economy, devastating our fragile recovery. Mind you, this lizard was listed as a subspecies until recently. The Center for Biological Diversity filed a petition asking the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service to grant an endangered species listing for the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard, which lives in the Permian Basin of West Texas. The Permian Basin is the most abundant oil-producing region in the lower 48 states and a vast sector of the Texas economy responsible for 68% of Texas’ production. The granting of an endangered listing for this little lizard would be a monumental economic disaster.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stated that if status is granted, oil drilling would be significantly limited and all new oil-drilling permits would be denied. Furthermore, more than 30 percent of jobs and income in Texas are from the Permian Basin area. The loss of production would hurt families already struggling to get by in this rough economy.
Prices at the pump would skyrocket in Texas and nationwide--taking more money from families already on a tight budget. This loss of oil production would also lead to less tax dollars for schools and other important community services. The oil and gas industry currently pays approximately $7.4 billion in state and local taxes in Texas.
The oil industry is not the only area of the economy which would be seriously harmed. The housing industry, which is just beginning to rebound, would be shut down in West Texas too. And the ripple effect from the economic losses would likely impact all sectors of the economy from pizza delivery to hair salons and from dry cleaners to florists. It is important to note that the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard’s “endangered” status is widely argued among the scientific community with no clear answer. The lack of valid scientific proof and the grave harm that the endangered species listing could have on Texans and Americans is evidence enough to prevent the listing of this lizard as endangered.
This political strategy to gain endangered status for animals and essentially halting industries from doing their work also sets a dangerous precedent. One can look no further than the dramatic economic impact the placement of the spotted owl endangered species list had in Oregon. Twenty years ago I worked at the U.S. Department of the Interior when the spotted owl was placed on the endangered species list, effectively closing millions of acres of federal forests in Oregon and devastating a once flourishing timber industry.
Tens of thousands of jobs were lost and today, unemployment in Oregon is above the national average and in Douglas County, where the forestlands involved are located, the unemployment rate twenty years later is still above the national average. This high unemployment rate is directly related to the closings of sawmills and the loss of timber jobs. And still the spotted owl is at risk – now from a natural predator, not from man.
At what cost are we willing to place this lizard on the endangered species list, especially when the science is unclear at best? Are we really willing to lose countless jobs and millions of dollars in economic growth? When does the quality of life of humans come before lizards? Citizens can take action today on this critical issue which will destroy our economy by contacting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Help protect this critical industry in Texas and your pocketbooks by going to Regulations.gov or to www.afptx.org and commenting on this plan no later than midnight on Jan. 19. I urge each and every concerned taxpayer to make your voice heard. Our quality of life here in Texas depends on it.
Peggy Venable grew up in West Texas and is the State Director of Americans for Prosperity-Texas, a free-market nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and mobilizing citizens about sound economic policy. During the Reagan Administration, she served as director of Take Pride in America which was based at the U.S. Department of the Interior.
http://www.oaoa.com/articles/texas-78033-lizard-thousands.html