Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration on Monday after the rare lizard was listed as endangered earlier this year.
Paxton, a Republican, is suing the Department of the Interior, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Biden administration officials after the agencies declared the Dunes sagebrush lizard an endangered species.
He argued that the groups made “inaccurate and arbitrary assumptions” about the species' current status. They moved It was placed on the endangered species list in late May.
Paxton's lawsuit argues that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has acknowledged that the lizard “occupies a large portion of its range” and will remain so for decades to come, undermining its endangered species status.
Paxton said in his lawsuit that Texas and various state agencies have worked with private landowners and industry partners to implement conservation efforts.
“The ability to manage wildlife resources at the state level is particularly important in Texas, where most of the land is privately owned,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit, filed in the Western District of Texas, seeks to avoid the final rule, arguing it “threatens to undermine those efforts” and violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Endangered Species Act, Paxton said.
In June, the Texas Railroad Commission Paxton asked. The commission, which regulates the state's oil and gas industry, is challenging the designation, arguing that a designation like this could have a “devastating” effect on the region's “significant” oil production.
The committee praised states for their conservation efforts and said the Biden administration's endangered species designation was “nothing more than a political stunt.”
This is not the first time Paxton has spoken out against the Biden administration.Reuters reported.He said the Democratic administration is “weaponizing environmental law” and trying to “undermine Texas' oil and gas industry.”
The Hill has reached out to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for comment.
