Perhaps you already know all about the Texas Railroad Commission. I admit I didn’t, other than knowing it wasn’t involved with railroads, but I just never paid it much attention. I bet a lot of folks have had a similar experience.
I skipped Chris Tomlinson’s recent column on the subject in the September 22 issue of the San Antonio Express-News, even though I always read his columns just because he’s such a good writer. My mind was busy with national politics, and it basically said, “whatever.”
Then a sample ballot for Bandera was posted online and I saw the candidates for Railroad Commissioner listed fourth from the top. Since I hate voting for people or issues I know nothing about, I returned to Tomlinson’s article to get the full story. And what a story it is, including obscurity that exists by design.
The Railroad Commission was originally created in 1891 to deal with corruption and misconduct in the state transportation business, but the agency also was given authority over oil, natural gas and other fossil fuels. Oil and gas became the Commission’s primary task as the federal government gradually assumed authority over the nation’s railroads.
As you may know, the oil and gas industry has a revered and protected status in Texas, whether you’re a little old grandma receiving monthly royalties or a west Texas christian nationalist billionaire who likes to buy politicians in order to direct the future of our state. One is not allowed to question the exalted position of the oil and gas industry in Texas, but many of the industry’s dealings don’t look very admirable once you dig beneath the surface, so to speak.
The Railroad Commission has wide-ranging authority to create rules and regulations, issue permits and punish violators in the oil and gas industry. No other agency has such total control over every aspect of an area of business. Can you imagine how easy it might be for information and influence to be distributed according to the whims of the commissioners? Are you surprised to hear that Craddick and her father, longtime Texas House Representative Tom Craddick, collected profits totaling $10 million last year from oil and gas properties in which they hold an interest? How about the fact that Commissioner Craddick ruled on many regulation and permitting issues that included at least four properties in which she owned an interest, does that surprise you?
One of Tomlinson’s many surprising points, which became sadly unsurprising as the story unfolded, was that Christi Craddick, who he dubbed “queen of the oil patch”, drove out a former commissioner, Ryan Sitton, when he dared to defy her. Sitton wanted to change the commission’s name to the Texas Energy Commission, but that might call more attention to this incredibly consequential office, and Craddick made sure it didn’t happen.
Every two years, one of the three members of the Railroad Commission is elected or reelected to a six-year term. This year, Craddick, the most senior and powerful of the commissioners, is seeking reelection to her third term with a $9 million campaign war chest that dwarfs those of her opponents. Needless to say, the contributions come from oil and gas entities who have business before the Commission.
The candidates running against Craddick are Democrat Katherine Culbert, an oil and gas process safety engineer, and Libertarian Hawk Dunlap, a well control specialist who has become known for his Tik Tok videos decrying the “zombie” wells spewing hazardous materials in the Permian Basin.
Both candidates will bring more objectivity, environmental and safety awareness, and scientific approaches to a Commission that, under Craddick’s control, basically exists to support profit- making in the oil and gas industry in Texas. As well as profit-making by the Craddick family, of course. After all, this is Texas, and this is oil and gas. Qualified and competent interference is not permitted (though shoddy or unsafe wells certainly seem to be).
When you come across the candidates for the Railroad Commission on your ballot, you may think, as I did at first, “whatever”. You may feel compelled to vote for the Republican candidate no matter how much evidence exists of cronyism and corruption, because it’s technically legal (after all, the commissioners make the rules that they themselves follow). You may think the situation is too far gone for your one vote to make a difference even if you wanted to.
Or you may decide that you’re tired of letting arrogant and wealthy Texas politicians do whatever they want under the cover of misleading the public by pretending they’re working on the railroad.
Susan Hull is a retired clinical psychologist, a horse trainer, and an Independent voter. She believes that the hardworking, well-meaning people of Texas really don’t want our politicians to be as manipulative and unfair as they seem to be, but we’ve been railroaded into thinking that we don’t drive the train.
