A federal judge ruled against environmentalists’ challenge to a proposed pipeline in Texas. U.S. District Court Judge Robert Pitman ruled against a request to halt Kinder Morgan’s Permian Highway Pipeline based on environmentalist claims the project would damage the habitats of the golden-cheeked warbler, the Houston toad and the Tobusch fishhook cactus.
Kinder Morgan spokesperson Katherine Hill said the project has sufficiently addressed potential habitat concerns:
“The project has implemented measures to address those concerns, and we are confident that the project is in compliance with all legal and regulatory requirements.”
Using wildlife as a pretext for their blind opposition to the oil and gas industry is a common tactic among Texas environmentalists. In South Texas, the Sierra Club continued to claim several LNG projects along the coast would harm its ocelot population long after such a claim was debunked by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
