President Obama visits Roswell, N.M., Wednesday, where hundreds will protest the potential addition of the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard to the endangered species list--which would make drilling for oil and gas more difficult in southeastern New Mexico, reports KOB4 in New Mexico:
As President Obama lands in Roswell Wednesday afternoon, he will be greeted by hundreds, and maybe thousands of protestors with the theme of not placing the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard on the endangered species list.
If the lizard goes on the list in June, oil and gas companies will be required to go through possibly a year's worth of approval before drilling.
Many people worry that this will, again, affect the cost of gas, and will cut jobs in the industry.
Transcript of the news segment:
ANCHOR: President Obama will be in southeastern New Mexico tomorrow to talk about energy policy, and drilling for oil and natural gas in New Mexico could get more difficult, all because of a lizard. Adam Camp is live in Roswell to explain.
CAMP: That’s right, Tom. The Dunes Sagebrush Lizard could go on the endangered species list in June. And if that happens, it’ll complicate things for oil and gas companies if they want to drill in southeastern New Mexico.
CAMP: If the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department puts the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard on an endangered species list in June, it'll be harder to drill for and natural gas on 540,000 acres in New Mexico. But some politicians don't think drilling is endangering the lizard, which is found in southeast New Mexico.
REP. DENNIS KINTICH: The fact that we've have and gas operations in this area for well over 50 years, and yet the lizard is still abundant.
CAMP: Rep. Kintich says several scientific reviews including one by UNM shows drilling is not threatening the lizard.
KINTIGH: There's an inherent contradiction between what's in the underlying scientific research and assertions made in the fish and wildlife service.
CAMP: The Bureau of Land Management says oil and gas companies are already taking precautions to protect the lizard.
DOUG BURGER: And the companies understand that, they work with us--they know there is a species on the precipice of possibly being listed and they're trying to do everything they can to help it not become listed.
CAMP: Oil and gas companies aren't the only ones affected by the possible listing. Schools that receive money from public land funds could see changes. When oil and gas leases bring in revenue to schools like the New Mexico military institute and other schools across the state, if those and gas leases are tougher to sell, it can affect tuition. Eighty percent of the operating budget NMMI comes from public land funds.
CAMP: Now, opponents of putting the lizard on the official endangered species list say there is no actual number of how many lizards there are. But the BLM says there are 1,100 locations in southeastern New Mexico and west Texas where the lizard lives.