Commissioner Christian Statement on Climate Jobs Projection Report

May 18, 2023

The Texas Climate Jobs Project and the Ray Marshall Center at the University of Texas at Austin recently released a report claiming proposed Environmental Protection Agency rules to mitigate methane leaks from oil and gas production could create between 19,000 and 35,000 in Texas. Commissioner Christian has this to say on the report:

"For my entire life, liberals have believed that breaking things will grow an economy. Just like a shop owner doesn't grow his business by breaking the window to his shop, you don't grow the Texas economy by breaking the oil and gas industry with anti-oil and gas regulations based on unsettled science from environmental alarmists in Washington DC."

"Imagine the government creates a water moving program where people use buckets to scoop water out of a lake and then dump it back in on the other side 1,000 times. Then the government sends out a press release claiming their program has added 1,000 buckets of water to the lake. That is what these methane rules are like. It is harmful government busy-work that distracts from the real problem, which is energy inflation caused by hostile federal government rules reducing oil and gas production. It is foolish to believe any government law, rule or regulation has created more jobs than it has killed."


About the Railroad Commission:
Our mission is to serve Texas by our stewardship of natural resources and the environment, our concern for personal and community safety, and our support of enhanced development and economic vitality for the benefit of Texans. The Commission has a long and proud history of service to both Texas and to the nation, including almost 100 years regulating the oil and gas industry. The Commission also has jurisdiction over alternative fuels safety, natural gas utilities, surface mining and intrastate pipelines. Established in 1891, the Railroad Commission of Texas is the oldest regulatory agency in the state. To learn more, please visit https://www.rrc.texas.gov/about-us/.