Texas Sues Biden Administration Over Endangered Lizard Status

Overview

• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of the Interior over the dunes sagebrush lizard's endangered status.
• Paxton claims the designation, made in May, is politically motivated and could harm property owners and energy production in the Permian Basin.
• The lawsuit argues that the Fish and Wildlife Service relied on faulty data and did not adequately consider existing voluntary conservation efforts.
• The dunes sagebrush lizard's habitat overlaps with Texas's largest oil and gas fields, making the endangered status a contentious issue for the industry.
• Federal regulators cited habitat loss from oil and gas development, sand mining, and climate change as primary threats to the lizard's survival.