 An Update from Commission Shift Executive Director Virginia Palacios We’ve had an impressive few weeks, with lots of attention on our new Captive Agency report series. Together with Texans for Public Justice, we studied personal financial statements from the three railroad commissioners to see how close they are to the oil and gas industries they oversee.
We found that, over a six-year period, the oil and gas industry contributed 67% of all campaign funds raised by the commissioners. The reports also showed weak ethics and recusal rules that don’t do enough to ensure transparency and trust.
With winter just around the corner, Texans want to know what the Railroad Commission will do to make sure gas wells and pipelines don’t freeze and trigger another deadly blackout like we saw in February. Lawmakers took the Railroad Commission to task last month, and here at Commission Shift we plan to keep the spotlight on this powerful yet rarely scrutinized agency.
Together, we’re gaining momentum in our effort to reform the Texas’ oil and gas oversight agency. Let’s keep up the pressure. Your Chance to Take Action None of us want to see a repeat of February's deadly power outages. And now there's something Texans can do about it. Tell the Railroad Commission to make sure natural gas operators that supply electric generators are considered “critical infrastructure” so they are required to weatherize their wells and pipelines. Click here to send the Railroad Commission a message. 
Houston Chronicle columnist Chris Tomlinson profiled Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick and called out her close ties to the oil and gas industry she oversees, based on the first report in our Captive Agency series. Tomlinson praised Commission Shift’s policy recommendations and wrote: “Christi Craddick bought, sold or held 46 oil and gas stocks in 2020, according to Commission Shift’s analysis of personal financial disclosures and campaign finance reports. She also owned mineral interests in 140 properties. Railroad commissioners should recuse themselves from decisions where they might have “a personal or a private interest.” Craddick has only recused herself twice since taking office in 2015.”
The Texas Tribune used the second report in the Captive Agency series to focus on the influence the oil and gas industry has on appointees to regulatory committees. “I think it’s really concerning for the people of Texas that all of these financial interests are going to be sitting in a room making decisions for all of us,” Executive Director Virginia Palacios told The Tribune. “The people who profited the most from this major disaster are going to be sitting on this [council].”
Executive Director Virginia Palacios had an op-ed published in the San Antonio Express-News calling for reforms at the Railroad Commission. As she wrote: “The report findings aren’t personal; they highlight consistent structural flaws at the agency. It’s time to change conflict-of-interest policies at the Railroad Commission so the agency can be effective and maintain the public trust. Why does this matter to Texans? Communities across our state suffer from pollution and health impacts from oil and gas development, and they can’t trust that the commission always has their best interests in mind.”
WFAA TV in Dallas featured the new Captive Agency reports in a big investigative story: “‘All Texans should be paying attention to this agency and the way that it makes decisions,” said Commission Shift Executive Director Virginia Palacios, whose report highlights various cases over the past decade where commissioners failed to recuse themselves and instead made regulatory decisions on companies they had financial stakes in. ‘I think it's common sense to the public that you shouldn't have an interest in these companies if you're going to be making decisions about them,’ Palacios said.”
Dallas Morning News watchdog Dave Lieber called out the Railroad Commission for being too cozy with the industries the agency is supposed to regulate: “To depend on the choo-choo commission to protect us is unfair. They are lackeys for the energy industry, as a new report called “Captive Agency” from Commission Shift and Texans for Public Justice says. The report studies how elected commissioners “profit from the industry that they oversee” and “provide inadequate oversight.” ‘Too often the commission has focused on accelerated oil and gas development at the expense of safety, economic vitality, natural resources and the environment.’”
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