Editor’s note: To help voters learn more about the candidates, the Advocate is printing profiles provided by the League of Women Voters in contested races in the May 24 primary runoff election.

League of Women Voters: Texas Railroad Commissioner

Qualifications:

• What training, experience and background qualify you for this position?

Ethics:

• Since candidates for Railroad Commission often raise money from the oil and gas industry, how can citizens be assured that campaign donations will not influence how commissioners regulate that industry?

Emissions:

• How important is the impact of methane emissions on climate change? What are effective ways to reduce methane emissions in the oil and gas industry?

Natural Gas Facility Weatherization:

• What further changes, if any, are needed to ensure that Texas has sufficient power in times of extreme weather conditions?

Seismic Activity:

• What are the most important measures the Railroad Commission can implement to reduce the risk of seismic activity or earthquakes caused by water disposal from oil and gas drilling?

Wayne Christian - Rep

Chairman - Railroad Commission of Texas Website: christianfortexas.com

Qualifications:

• I have a proven conservative record & regulatory experience. As chairman of RRC, I have stabilized staffing levels for the first time in a decade, reducing permitting times and streamlined inspections. Candidate’s response did not meet the criteria.

Ethics:

• Campaigns cost money to run, so all candidates for all offices must raise money. The standards for RRC are no different than any other office. My job is to represent the people of Texas and ensure they have access to cheap, plentiful, reliable energy. Contributions have not and will not impact my dedication to doing what is right for the people of Texas.

Emissions:

• A clean environment and a thriving oil and gas industry are not mutually exclusive. Since 1970, the six major pollutants regulated by the EPA have decreased 77% while our economy has grown 285%, population has grown 60%, and energy consumption has grown 48%. We’ve reduced flaring/methane from 2.38% in January 2019 to 0.21% in September 2021 under my leadership without overregulation.

Natural Gas Facility Weatherization:

• The RRC recently designated natural gas facilities as critical during energy emergencies and put in place weatherization requirements to ensure our oil and gas assets are prepared for emergencies. We must also ensure we are prioritizing energy generation from reliable sources through eliminating subsidies and preferential treatment for less reliable forms of energy.

Seismic Activity:

• The Railroad Commission takes seismic activity very seriously and has a seismologist on staff to advise the agency to ensure our regulatory actions are based on sound-science. In response to recent earthquakes in West Texas, the RRC ordered the indefinite suspension of all deep oil and gas produced water injection in the Gardendale Seismic Response Area.

Sarah Stogner - Rep

Attorney Website: sarah4RRC.com

Qualifications:

• I am an attorney who has dedicated the past 13 years of my life to helping various stakeholders in the oil and gas industry with no desire to be a politician. I will end the crony capitalism preventing meaningful change to tackle the real problems.

Ethics:

• I’m not accepting donations because our current regulators are bought by the industry they are charged with regulating. Plain and simple — the current regulators have enriched themselves and their friends at the expense of Texans. We’re having earthquakes and losing our freshwater aquifers. Texas must handle or the federal government will intervene. End crony capitalism.

Emissions:

• We should not be venting or flaring methane. It’s a vital energy source that should be put to beneficial purposes. We should incentivize leak prevention. We should incentivize alternative uses (such as cryptocurrency mining). And we have to hold bad actors accountable. Climate change will be the least of our concerns if we don’t fix our groundwater and seismic issues.

Natural Gas Facility Weatherization:

• Natural gas facilities are vital to maintaining the integrity of the Texas grid. We need to consult with experts on how to properly winterize facilities and ensure we do not have a repeat winter where Texans die. But we cannot foist this expense on the taxpayers either. Operators should not be able to opt out of vital winterization of natural gas facilities.

Seismic Activity: Seismic activity is a real issue. We need to look at the big picture of what is happening geologically. We are extracting and injecting into different zones millions of barrels of water per day in the Permian Basin alone. We should not be using fresh water for drilling or completing wells. We need to incentivize innovation to tackle this complicated issue.

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