Attorney General Ken Paxton Sues Biden Administration Over Attempt to Undermine Texas Oil and Gas Industries by Weaponizing Environmental Law
September 23, 2024 – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Biden Administration officials for unlawfully classifying the dunes sagebrush lizard as an endangered species in violation of the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”).
The Wildlife Service failed to rely on the best scientific and commercial data available when making its designation as required by law and therefore made inaccurate and arbitrary assumptions about the current and future status of the species. Further, the regulation classifying the dunes sagebrush lizard as endangered did not take into consideration the ongoing voluntary conservation efforts already in place at a local and state level. Because of this, the federal government’s action would unduly undermine vital economic development in the Permian Basin, subjecting Texas industries and private landowners to regulatory uncertainty and ambiguity about what they can do with their own land.
On July 25, Attorney General Paxton notified the Biden Administration that the listing violated the ESA and that he would sue if the error was not reversed. As the improper classification has not been retracted, the Office of the Attorney General filed suit, asking the court to find that the agencies acted arbitrarily and capriciously in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act and the ESA.
“The Biden-Harris Administration’s unlawful misuse of environmental law is a backdoor attempt to undermine Texas’s oil and gas industries which help keep the lights on for America,” said Attorney General Paxton. “I warned that we would sue over this illegal move, and now we will see them in court.”
