Republicans and Democrats Divided on Lizard

Capitol Report New Mexico - As the US Fish and Wildlife Service prepares for a public meeting in Roswell Thursday evening (April 28) over whether or not to grant the dunes sagebrush lizard protection under the Endangered Species Act, all of the Democrats in the New Mexico congressional delegation have refused to comment about what their stance is regarding the designation. But Gov. Susana Martinez’ office released a statement siding with the only Republican in the congressional delegation — Rep. Steve Pearce, who has forcefully come out against giving the lizard a federal endangered species listing. At the heart of the controversy is a fear among some people in New Mexico’s Oil Patch that expanding protections for the lizard would threaten oil and gas development in the southeast part of the state — although a number of conservationists say that’s not necessarily the case. (Click here for our original post on this story.)

Susana Martinez

Pearce has been outfront on this issue, repeatedly saying that “Most of the oil and gas jobs in southeast New Mexico are at risk.” But where do the other members of the New Mexico congressional delegation stand? Capitol Report New Mexico e-mailed the press secretaries of Sen. Tom Udall, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, Rep. Martin Heinrich and Rep. Ben Ray Luján – all Democrats — asking whether they favor placing the lizard on the federal endangered species list but none of them responded. However, Capitol Report New Mexico also e-mailed the office of Gov. Martinez and received this reply Tuesday: Governor Martinez supports common-sense conservation efforts that protect the dune lizard from being killed or harmed, but she opposes letting bureaucrats in Washington take the extreme step of declaring many of our natural resources off-limits for responsible development, which would cost New Mexico jobs. As a result, the governor will not support efforts to place the lizard on the federal endangered species list and will instead continue to support a balanced approach that protects our environment and allows for responsible economic development. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Republicans and Democrats Divided on Lizard