Convenience Big Store: Forget Godzilla, this guy is bigger threat to Texas oil

The politics of lizards

The tiny Dunes Sagebrush Lizard may blend in with the mounds of sand peppering the oil-rich Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico, but its recently approved status as an endangered species has attracted conspicuous pushback.

After the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published its final decision on the listing in May, Rep. August Pfluger, a Republican whose district stretches from Killeen to Odessa, called for a congressional review in an effort to nullify the decision. The Railroad Commission of Texas, which regulates the oil and gas industry, is gathering evidence of the rule's impacts on oil and gas to deliver to the office of Attorney General Ken Paxton, who will decide whether to sue the federal government.

Commissioner Wayne Christian called the lizard's listing a prime example of federal overreach at a recent hearing of the state Senate's Natural Resources and Economic Development Committee.

Controversy over whether or not to list the small, sand-colored lizard among species worthy of protection has simmered since the fracking boom gripped West Texas in the early 2000s and transformed the basin into one of the most prolific oil fields on the planet as it prompted panic from environmentalists. The expansion of oil extraction in the Permian and the rise in sand mining there for fracking have chopped up the lizard's limited habitat.

Read more about the political fight here via reporters Rebekah F. Ward and Amanda Drane.

Jeremy Wallace, Texas politics reporter

jeremy.wallace@houstonchronicle.com

Who's up, who's down

Up: UT protesters.

Nearly 80 criminal trespass arrests stemming from a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas have been dismissed.

Down: The Army.

South by Southwest organizers have dropped the U.S. Army and weapons manufacturers as sponsors ahead of the 2025 festival. The move comes after at least 80 artists pulled out of this year's event in Austin with many saying it was because of those types of sponsorships.

What do you think? Hit reply and let me know.

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FILE - Fake pill bottles with messages about Purdue Pharma are displayed during a protest outside the courthouse where the bankruptcy of the company is taking place in White Plains, N.Y., Monday, Aug. 9, 2021. The Supreme Court on Thursday, June 27, 2024, rejected a nationwide settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma that would have shielded members of the Sackler family who own the company from civil lawsuits over the toll of opioids but also would have provided billions of dollars to combat the opioid epidemic.

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Pick of the day

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That was one of the infamous campaign slogans that the musician-turned-occasional politician used during his independent run for governor against then-Gov. Rick Perry. Andrew Dansby has more on Friedman, who died this week at age 79.

What else I'm reading

Could Texas be the future for powering electric vehicles? Maybe. More lithium mining companies are setting up shop in Northeast Texas and Southwest Arkansas where large deposits have been discovered that could help the U.S. develop lithium batteries that power electric vehicles, and in turn, reduce dependency on foreign countries where most of the lithium is currently collected. Samuel Shaw of the Longview News-Journal has been all over this issue for months.