Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM) has been on a rampage recently. Since last fall, he has attempted to gut protections for at least three different endangered species across the Southwest, including Mexican wolves, the sand dune lizard and the lesser prairie chicken. Now his staff has its sights on the poor desert pupfish.
Desert pupfish.
A conservative blogger at Human Events blamed the 2-inch pupfish for preventing federal border patrol agents from tracking immigrants across the desert. Pearce’s press secretary jumped on it immediately, saying it was an example of how environmental regulations put people at risk.
We’re not sure how the tiny pupfish that live in a pond occupying just ONE acre in Arizona’s Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument are jeopardizing Americans’ lives. According to the park’s superintendent, the pond is located in an area that is densely wooded and already inaccessible to regular patrol vehicles. A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security even admitted the pupfish does not impede surveillance of the area whatsoever. (Read the full story from Milan Simonich with Alamogordo Daily News.)
But why let reality get in the way of some good old-fashioned fear-mongering. Who knows, maybe the 2-inch pupfish is coming for you next.
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