Texas sues Biden administration over lizard's endangered status, cites oil industry threat

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) - Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration on Monday for declaring the dunes sagebrush lizard an endangered species, saying the politically motivated decision could harm property owners and energy production.

Paxton, a Republican, said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service relied on faulty data and arbitrary assumptions about the lizard's future in adopting a final rule on May 20 declaring the animal endangered.

He said the move threatened private landowners' ability to conduct business while ensuring the lizard's survival in its large geographic range overlapping the Permian Basin, the highest-producing oil region in the United States.

The lawsuit filed in the federal court in Midland, Texas, seeks to void the final rule.

Paxton has filed many lawsuits challenging Biden administration policies.

In a statement, he accused the Democratic administration of "weaponizing environmental law" in a "backdoor attempt to undermine Texas's oil and gas industries which help keep the lights on for America."

A spokesman for the U.S. Department of the Interior, which includes the Fish and Wildlife Service, declined to comment. Both agencies were named as defendants.

The Railroad Commission of Texas, which regulates the state's oil and gas industry, asked Paxton in June to challenge the lizard's endangered status, calling the listing "nothing more than a political game."

Texas accounted for 43% of the nation's crude oil production and 27% of its marketed natural gas in 2023, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The dunes sagebrush lizard's range spans 1.25 million acres (1,953 square miles), the Fish and Wildlife Service said.

The case is Texas v. U.S. Department of the Interior et al, U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas, No. 24-00233.