Staying Informed

Excessive and poorly considered environmental regulations can have a serious impact on economic health. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed listing the dunes sagebrush lizard for protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), despite a near-total lack of scientific data on the animal. ESA protection can severely limit energy production, agriculture and other economic activity in species habitat — which, in this case, includes Texas’ Permian Basin, source of 20 percent of the nation’s oil and tens of thousands of high-paying Texas jobs.

Such impending actions highlight the need for an independent effort to look out for Texas’ interests in the rapidly changing world of federal environmental regulation, to ensure that our economic interests, our property rights and our jobs are protected — to make sure that someone is keeping Texas first.

• Learn more about the potential economic impact of federal action related to species review by tracking information gathered for current watch species, including details on habitat areas and industries impacted.
• See The Real Cost of Regulation for a closer look at all the ways regulatory action on the federal level can have an impact.
• Read these case studies that highlight the severe impacts that uninformed endangered species decisions can have.

What We Don’t Know

It is important to note that many potentially significant effects of federal regulations cannot be determined at this time since action is being proposed and taken with incomplete science. Many unknowns must be clarified before a full economic assessment of these regulatory proposals and changes can be stated.