The only way to truly reform the Texas Railroad Commission is to elect a new commissioner in 2008 -- elect a citizen advocate for common-sense energy policies in Texas. Mark Thompson can be that strong independent voice for Texas.
Vote for Mark Thompson, Democrat for the Texas Railroad Commission.
Thanks for your support,
Mark Thompson
Mark Thompson is running his campaign for the RRC based on five fundamental points: to reform the Commission, to rename it, to fight for tougher enforcement for bad operators and repeat violators, to protect the people of Texas first, and to provide balanced representation on the commission.
Reform the Texas Railroad Commission
Rename the Texas Railroad Commission
Demand Tougher Enforcement
Protect The People
Provide Balanced Representation
1. Reform the Texas Railroad Commission
It's time to reform the Texas Railroad Commission. Through massive political donations from political action committees (PACs), the oil and gas industry has engineered lax enforcement (and bad business practices) under the less-than-watchful eyes of an all-GOP Commission for over a decade. That's too long. It's time for a change.Through donations from oil and gas political action committees, the industry has bought and paid for these Republican Railroad Commissioners.
Under the current Commission's leadership, accidents and disasters in the oil, natural gas, and mining industries have become commonplace. Lax rules and even weaker enforcement are contributing to deaths, injuries, environmental destruction, lawsuits, and insurance claims.
For years, no one has accepted responsibility for the excesses of the oil and gas industry. The Texas Railroad Commission was created to protect people and the environment from the destruction wrought by bad operators and corrupt monopolies. Today, the Texas Railroad Commission is poorly understood, inefficient, and toothless. It needs reform.
The reforms Mark Thompson has fought for include: streamlining decision-making, insisting on better response times, expelling the oil and gas lobby from the process, rewarding quality customer service, and improving public safety through better, more effective rules -- and better communication processes for the oil and gas industry and for Texans with concerns before the Commission.
Reform will require an investment in modernization at the Texas Railroad Commission. We need to increase efficiency through technology and make it easier for people to do business with the Commission -- as we institute the reforms necessary to bring the agency into the 21st Century.
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2. Rename the Texas Railroad CommissionIn 1891, the Texas Railroad Commission was created to protect the people of Texas and Texas farmers from the overwhelming power of the railroads by the Texas populist/farmers' rights movement known as "The Grange." It was one of the first major regulatory agencies empowered by a U.S. state to protect its people from the economic power of a natural monopoly. At first, the Commission regulated the railroad industry, and that's where it got its name.
The problem is, the Texas Railroad Commission no longer has anything to do with railroads. The name now just confuses people.
For decades, the agency's chief responsibility has been oil and gas. In 2005, the Texas legislature removed the last vestige of rail authority -- it reassigned the Rail Section of the Railroad Commission to the Texas Department of Transportation. The Texas Railroad Commission now has nothing to do with railroads whatsoever. Why continue to confuse people by calling it the Texas Railroad Commission?
The agency's new name should more clearly represent what the agency really does -- that is, making and enforcing the rules for oil, gas, and mineral resource management in the Lone Star State.
It's time to let the public know how the TRCC impacts their lives . [back to the top]
The Railroad Commission is supposed to be a watchdog agency for the people and the environment -- a tough enforcer of critical laws and legislation. The commission must stand up for the people of Texas and their rights.
Right now, bad operators have found that the fines and fee schedules imposed for violating the Railroad Commission's rules are not serious. It's often easier and cheaper to pay the fine rather than fix the problem. To end this culture of non-compliance, the people of Texas need a voice for tougher enforcement on the Railroad Commission.
In April of this year, a sinkhole the size of six football fields opened up in the southeast Texas town of Daisetta. Officially, the Railroad Commission says it doesn't know why the monster sinkhole appeared -- just down the road from the local high school and partially on land that belongs to an oilfield waste disposal company.
A saltwater/oilfield waste injection well is located near the rim of the sinkhole -- which has now been transformed into a petroleum-flavored lake. According to published reports, one hour after the sinkhole opened up, a dry well about a mile away began gushing saltwater waste.
The evidence strongly suggests that this very unnatural disaster was created by excess or faulty underground saltwater/oilfield waste injection -- by a company that has twice been fined by the Texas Railroad Commission for injecting too much waste into the ground and failing to check for leaks.
The same series of events has been repeated in case after case. An oil, natural gas, or mining company violates a rule or regulation imposed by the Commission. The Commission requires the company to pay an inconsequential fine, and the violator continues to operate outside the rules, endangering people and property. How long can Texas allow this to continue?
Tougher enforcement of new Commission rules can protect small Texas communities like Daisetta and countless others from injury, environmental degradation and loss of property.
It's time to for some meaningful enforcement on behalf of the people of Texas. [back to the top]
The Texas Railroad Commission should serve the people of Texas -- not the big money interests of the industries it regulates.
Mark Thompson decided to run for Texas Railroad Commissioner after a series of incidents in Wylie and Cleburne -- deadly gas explosions in homes linked to the failure of the natural gas couplings that connect citizens' home heating systems to the natural gas pipeline system.
The faulty couplings, especially in North Texas, sometimes consist of little more than fitted plastic pvc pipe. Most astonishing is that this vulnerable style of coupling still connects over 100,000 homes to Texas’ natural gas infrastructure.
Once the houses exploded in Cleburne and Wiley, Mark Thompson considered the possible risk to his own family in nearby Garland. He started asking questions. He decided to find out who was responsible for making sure this kind of thing never happened again. His work led him to the Texas Railroad Commission.
That answer was just the beginning. Mark contacted the Commission, called news organizations, and finally filed an open records request that forced the issue of replacing the failure-prone natural gas compression couplings.
The three Republican Railroad Commissioners, under public pressure, soon changed their policy and ordered the mass replacement of the defective gas couplings responsible for numerous deaths since the 1980s.
Mark Thompson looked for accountability, found none, and decided to shake things up. The experience taught him how one person's effort can save lives. He decided to offer a change for Texans and the RRC, and he began running on a platform of protecting people first.
Mark Thompson believes it is time to bring accountability to the Texas Railroad Commission. [back to the top]
5. Provide Balanced Representation
The people expect an honest Commissioner who will look after their interests -- someone they can trust, who has not accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from companies he could soon be asked to rule for or against.Mark Thompson has made a career out of service. His common sense compassion, informed by his work as a therapist and advocate for the blind, combines with a love of justice sharpened by his years in law enforcement. Mark Thompson has the both heart and guts required to turn things around at the Texas Railroad Commssion.
Mark defeated two formidable Democratic opponents on March 4th and April 8th garnering over a million votes in the process. He has reached out to Art Hall and Dale Henry, and he hopes both his former rivals will endorse and inform his campaign.
As the nominee, Mark knows it is important for Democrats to unite in order to provide balance on the Texas Railroad Commission. He also knows it is important to remind Texas Republicans that a voice for balance on the Commission will be a healthy thing for the Lone Star State and for the future of Texas' energy industry.
Mark Thompson will be a Democratic voice for the people of Texas. [back to the top]
Pol. Adv. paid for by Mark Thompson for Texas Railroad Commission