Washington Bureaucracy Threatening Texas' Economy

Statement

Our state has been a bright spot in the midst of an otherwise sluggish national recovery. Texas continues to be a leader in job creation, and our unemployment rate remains below the national average. This is due to several factors, not the least of which is the energy industry, which is in the midst of a boom in South and West Texas. In fact the Permian Basin, which spreads across West Texas and Southeast New Mexico, is currently the nation's top energy producing region.

Unfortunately, Texas' success is being threatened by the Washington bureaucracy. Last June, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service proposed listing the sand dune lizard, which resides in the Permian Basin, as an endangered species. Such a listing would jeopardize the energy and agriculture industries, which account for more than 30 percent of the region's jobs and income.

At my request, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) agreed to postpone the listing in order to gather more data and ensure that all the facts are vetted before a decision is made. This week, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar was in West Texas to examine the issue. I'm hopeful that after visiting the Permian Basin Secretary Salazar will understand the enormous cost that a listing would mean for West Texans. With gas prices high and nationwide job growth stagnant, I encourage the Administration to do the right thing by protecting Texas jobs and promoting red, white, and blue energy here at home.

West Texas isn't the only part of our state where jobs and energy security are being threatened The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would bring hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil per day from Canada to refineries in Texas--and with it, thousands of jobs and millions of dollars of economic output. But the President has denied the permit required to bring the oil across the border into the United States.

Last week TransCanada, the company attempting to construct the pipeline, submitted a new application for a permit. I'm hopeful the President will reconsider his previous decision. Rather than play politics with people's livelihoods and shrug off high gas prices, the President should approve the permit and get out of the way of American commerce.

Feds Seek Agreement to Protect Endangered Lizard

The following excerpt ran in the Houston Chronicle:

The Fish and Wildlife Service, which Salazar oversees, must decide by mid-June whether to list the three-inch reptile, also known as the sand dune lizard, as an endangered species, a designation intended to save it from extinctioin. The federal agency was to make a decision last year, but delayed it by six months under intense congressional pressure. U.S. Sen. Joghn Cornyn, R-Texas, and other lawmakers asked for the delay after questioning the agency's methods for surveying the lizard

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