There is more than one way to kill the fossil fuel industry.
In payback to his environmental activist voters, the Obama administration has initiated a plan to declare the lesser prairie chicken a threatened species, citing its imperiled habitat—which just happens to cross states throughout the nation’s oil and gas belt.
Placement of the small grouse on the Endangered Species List affects Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas, where it could significantly disrupt energy production and farming, said Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee.
Daniel Kish, senior vice president of policy for the Institute for Energy Research said the full impact on energy production is relatively unknown, “but it cannot be positive.” “Under these policies, the most endangered species in the United States could become American workers,” Kish said.
The Independent Petroleum Association of America who also opposes the action and says the administration’s plan begins a dangerous precedent for future energy production, economic growth and working conservation efforts. “America’s heartland is flourishing due to oil and natural gas development in Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and New Mexico,” the association said in a statement. It is no accident that the anti-development movement is pressing to list a species in this resource-rich region. It is an increasingly used tactic by environmental groups to manipulate (the Endangered Species Act) in order to discourage growth. If the lesser prairie chicken is listed as endangered, this encouraging growth will be in jeopardy as energy development, in fact, all kinds of development—could be stopped in its tracks.”
In the midst of a lousy economy, the Obama continues to to show hostility to economic growth, the encouragement for job creation and energy development that he promised in his campaign.
It isn’t quite a done deal – in an attempt to appear unbiased – the Interior Department is collecting public comments and will hold hearings in February -before announcing the closing of oil and gas fields.
