On a recent mid-October evening, a small crowd milled around UT Austin’s Thompson Conference Center.
Refreshments along the walls and cordial, quiet conversations in the lobby gave the gathering the feel of a niche academic lecture, the kind you might find on campus any day.
It wasn’t.
In fact, it was the only time three candidates for the nation’s most important energy jobs met before Election Day.
The forum, sponsored by the nonpartisan watchdog group Commission Shift, featured candidates vying for seats on the Texas Railroad Commission. This is the name of the state agency that regulates the powerful oil and gas industry.
The incumbent railroad commissioner, Republican Christy Craddick, was absent.
Those in attendance included Democrat Katherine Calvert, Liberal Hawk Dunlap, and Green Party candidate Eddie Espinoza.
After a meet-and-greet in the lobby, the three went into a nearby auditorium to field questions about energy policy, the environment and the future of Texas.
Their responses at the forum and in interviews with KUT highlight differences but also some key agreements among challengers seeking to reform government agencies that control the very industries they regulate. I made it.
Katherine Calvert, Democratic candidate
Calvert is a process safety engineer from Houston who works in the oil and gas field.
She decided to run because she had long been dissatisfied with the lack of oversight by the Railroad Commission.
When asked for an example, Calvert pointed to the recent pipeline fire in Deer Park, a suburb of Houston.
The fire continued to burn for several days after a driver hit a natural gas valve with his car. The driver was killed, people were injured and told to evacuate, and homes were damaged.
“The Railroad Commission’s response was, ‘Oh, the inspectors are on their way,’ and that’s it!” Calvert says.
“Yet we haven’t heard anything about any investigations or fines or how they’re holding[pipeline company]Energy Transfer accountable.”
She and three other challengers say they would increase oversight and accountability for big energy companies and change the Railroad Commission’s name to something less descriptive.
They are advocating for campaign finance reform to prevent commissioners from accepting donations from companies they do business with.
“Committees need to distance themselves from the votes that are happening on the committee that affect the companies that donate,” Calvert said. “We really need complete campaign finance reform.”
Hawk Dunlap, Libertarian
Hawk Dunlap is a native of Longview, East Texas who has worked all over the world as an oil well management specialist.
When the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020, he returned to Texas and was surprised by the number of abandoned oil wells in the Permian Basin that were leaking fluid and endangering groundwater.
“I’ve worked and traveled to over 100 countries around the world, and I’ve never seen anything as bad as what I’m seeing in West Texas,” Dunlap told KUT.
He joined an emerging group of activists in the Texas oil patch, including former Railroad Commission candidate Sarah Stogner, who decried insufficient oversight by state regulators.
“Landowners call me and ask me to fix their problems before they call the Railroad Commission because they know I’ll take care of them,” Dunlap said. . “The Railroad Commission is not doing what it needs to do for Texas landowners.”
Among other things, Dunlap wants to overhaul the way companies decommission and plug old oil wells.
He also advocates increasing recycling of oilfield wastewater or taxing wastewater injection into the ground to reduce blowouts and leaks from abandoned and “orphan” wells.
“We’re bringing in (waste) water from Louisiana because Louisiana limits the amount of water that can be pumped in. Oklahoma is pulling into Texas, New Mexico is pulling into Texas,” Dunlap said. said. “We have to eliminate that.”
Eddie Espinoza, Green Party candidate
Green Party candidate Eddie Espinoza appears to be the only candidate without a background in oil and gas.
After serving in the Army, Espinoza moved to the Rio Grande Valley, where he taught public school for 26 years.
He entered the race out of a desire to protect future generations from the effects of climate change.
“It’s time to wake up to the reality of global warming,” Espinoza said. “We know these fossil fuel companies are going to be around for a while. But they need to move from extracting fossil fuels to uncorking and cleaning and helping decarbonize the Texas economy. ”
Espinoza has advocated for funding climate resiliency to protect Texas cities from extreme heat waves, a stronger focus on energy efficiency, and putting public money toward a “just transition” away from fossil fuels. are.
“Greening and decarbonizing the Texas economy will create a lot of jobs,” he says.
Christie Craddick, Republican candidate
Christie Craddick is the current Railroad Commission Chair. Committee chair is a role typically given to committee members when they are running for re-election.
Craddick, a Midland native, has served on the committee since 2012.
She is the daughter of former Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick, the longest-serving member in state House history.
While the remaining candidates called for reform of the commission, Mr. Craddick campaigned on his record.
Thanks to her leadership, Texas’ fossil fuel industry is now on track, she says.
She has emphasized her support for the industry and opposed federal efforts to tighten environmental and public health regulations in the oil fields.
As of press time, Craddick’s camp had not responded to requests for an interview.
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