KWES NewsWest 9 / Midland, Odessa, Big Spring, TX: newswest9.com | Time is Ticking for Dune Sagebrush Lizard Public Comment Session

By Geena Martinez
NewsWest 9

MIDLAND - Time is ticking away for you to voice your opinions about the dune sagebrush lizard. On Tuesday, another group joined the fight against the controversial critter that they say is threatening to shut down the oil and gas industry.

Now they're hoping to rally enough support in their favor.

They're called Americans for Prosperity and they're joining the fight to stop the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from adding the dune sagebrush lizard to the endangered species list.

They said it's more important now than ever to be heard.

It's shaping up to be a fight to the finish in the battle of environmentalists versus the oil industry.

Just two days are left before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service closes their public comment session on the heated debate surrounding a three-inch reptile.

"It's such a colossal mistake that the federal government is even moving in that direction," Peggy Venable, with Americans for Prosperity, said.

Venable is the Director of the Texas chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a group who feels the federal government needs to take a step back.

A native West Texan herself, she and the group tried to gather last minute support Tuesday morning against the dune sagebrush lizard.

"Shutting down the West Texas oil fields would be such a colossal mistake," Venable said.

Venable said it's part of nature for species to die off and new ones to emerge.

"For us to think that we can prolong the life of a species in any way is ludicrous," Venable said.

She feels people don't understand how crucial the Permian Basin is to the state and national economy.

Adding the lizard to the endangered species list, she said, would be a huge blow by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"Oil and gas is really a tremendous tool for economic prosperity in this country and it doesn't just hit us at the gas pump," she said.

Jason Moore agrees and he wants people to speak up before time runs out.

"I think it's good that people make other people in the country aware of the impact this kind of radical environmentalists has," Moore said.

Moore said the science behind the environmentalists' claims is questionable.

"I think that's the problem nobody knows where the science is," he said.

We're told Attorney General Greg Abbott is prepared to sue if the lizard makes the list, and if that does happen, Moore has one question for the Fish and Wildlife Service.

"Are you gonna allow the same half-baked science to remove species from the endangered species list as you're allowing to have put on it?" he said.

If you'd like to voice your comment, you can access the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service comment section directly through the website www.americansforprosperity.org. Just click the Texas tab and it will take you there.