Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams will resign this week, allowing him to work full time on a race for U.S. Senate — and to avoid a potentially bruising legislative fight over the future of his agency.
Texas Railroad Commission
Posted in
Energy
TribBlog: Sunset on Railroad Commission
The Sunset Advisory Commission met today and recommended that the Railroad Commission be renamed the Oil and Gas Commission, and that its top structure shrink from three elected commissioners to one.
Posted in
Energy
Atmospheric Politics
Every politician needs a villain. George W. Bush had Saddam Hussein; Barack Obama had George W. Bush. Gov. Rick Perry has the EPA., which has had the audacity to order Texas to do more to clean its air.
Posted in
State Government
TribBlog: The Railroad Commission Holds Forth
Texas’ three Railroad Commissioners today proposed ways to restructure and rename their commission in hearings today in the Capitol.
Posted in
State Government
TribBlog: “Soft Corruption” at the Railroad Commission?
Members of the Texas Railroad Commission have become increasingly reliant on large campaign donations in the last decade, especially from industries they regulate, according to a new report to be issued today by Public Citizen’s Texas office.
Posted in
Energy
Energy Boost
Energy is never far from the agenda at the Legislature. This year, Sunset Advisory Commission reviews of oil and gas and electricity regulators will keep the sector in the spotlight, as will renewed clamor for legislation — however unlikely to happen in a tough budget environment — to aid clean energy.
Posted in
State Government
TribBlog: Inflamed
The tussle between Texas and federal environmental regulators is heating up in yet another arena — natural gas drilling — after the EPA ordered a gas company to act to come to the aid of two North Texas homes with contaminated wells. Texas Railroad Commissioners fired back, calling the EPA’s move “premature” and “grandstanding.”
Posted in
Energy
Landing or Launching?
There are lily pads and launch pads in Texas government, and the Railroad Commission is a launch pad. Being a railroad commissioner is less an end than a means — a way to propel yourself into a better, higher-profile and more powerful job. Which is why a serious reform effort is afoot.
Posted in
State Government
TribBlog: Abolish the Railroad Commission?
The Sunset Advisory Commission’s staff report on the Railroad Commission, released today, recommends getting rid of the agency and replacing it with a similar entity headed by five part-time gubernatorial appointees.
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University of Texas/Texas Tribune Polls
Perry By 10 in New UT/TT Poll
Republican Gov. Rick Perry leads his Democratic challenger, Bill White by 10 points — 50 percent to 40 percent — in the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. Libertarian Kathie Glass has the support of 8 percent of respondents; Deb Shafto of the Green Party gets 2 percent. In the last UT/TT poll, conducted in early September, Perry led by 6 points, 39 percent to 33 percent. In a red state in a red year, GOP incumbents in other statewide races are beating their Democratic opponents by between 13 points and 20 points, the new poll found.
