Texas Ag Commissioner claims protecting monarch butterflies part of 'radical agenda'

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller this week railed against a federal effort to designate monarch butterflies — Texas' official state insect — a threatened species, calling the effort part of President Biden's "radical agenda." U.S. Fish and Wildlife filed the proposal Tuesday, noting that populations of both eastern and western monarchs have declined by 80% since the '80s. In response to the decline, which experts attribute to habitat loss and climate change, the agency wants to designate 4,395 acres in California as critical monarch habitats. While the proposal doesn't mention Texas or suggest new environmental restrictions for the Lone Star State, that didn't stop the outspoken Miller from firing off a statement the next day warning that the feds want to make it "nearly impossible" to build things in rural Texas, including "football stadiums."