Me too. The devastation caused to the economy by radical environmentalism is the most powerful tool the lefties have. They use enviro laws to great effect, stopping highway construction and breaching dams during droughts.
If you look at the delays and added expense for the trans-Alaska pipeline, for caribou crossings and moose crossings and bear crossings because we were all assured that one wouldn't duck and the other required a certain height, etc, (when it turns out any of them will cross wherever they can, provided they can fit), that was the harbinger of such doom.
I recall the spud date for a well I worked in Western Colorado being pushed back 3 months to 'allow the elk rut to proceed'. (As if anything will stop a bull elk in rut). That was a minor expense, and another oil company I did work for wanted to incorporate part of a reclaimed rig access road right of way in the route to a new drill site. They figured to save time and expense as all the required surveys had been done when the original road was put in, before it had been reclaimed.
Nope.
They had to re-run the standard historical/archaeological, rare animal, endangered species, rare plant, and raptor surveys on the reclaimed section of road. The road right of way had been reclaimed less than a year, and had been seeded with the BLM approved native seed grass mixture...which did not include any endangered plants.
I have seen owls sit on light stanchions on an actively drilling oil rig, watching for mice, eagles roost (not nest, just hang out) on the railings on the 'monkey boards' and the crown of the rig, deer evade hunters by cutting through the drill site, and bighorn sheep sit on a ledge and watch the rig for a few days, coming and going (I presume to graze and get water). Critters adapt readily to the changes if you don't pester them. My only regret is that I didn't take more pictures.
