Anti energy left's move to use sage grouse to stop drilling thwarted by Congress

Washington Times:

A successful Republican move to stop in its tracks the Obama administration’s bid to list the sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act may be a sign of things to come in the long-running battle between environmentalists and economic developers across the West.

A GOP policy “rider” tucked into the massive $1.1 trillion spending bill debated by Congress last week cuts off any money for the administration to move on the grouse issue, and with Republicans set to take full control of the House and the Senate next month, that’s unlikely to be the last such move.

After years of watching federal bureaucrats, environmentalists and judges decide Western land-use and endangered species policy, Republican and Western lawmakers are drawing a line in the sand over the wide-ranging, chicken-size bird, which threatens to upend economic development projects across the rural West.
...

Congress needs to revamp the Endangered Feces Act which has become a sword for the anti energy left.  This left wind anti Darwinism is being used to thwart the development of resources and drive up the cost if a project does go forward.  It becomes a way for getting the public to pay for their hobby.