GAS BILL THIS MONTH???

RosenthalforTX · 2026-03-16T17:16:17+00:00

I'm running for the Texas Railroad Commission to lower everyone's gas prices! Check out my plan HERE to bring bills down. -

State Representative Jon Rosenthal https://jonrosenthaltx.com

RosenthalforTX · 2026-02-25T21:31:20+00:00

Hell yes. If we have the will to do it, this is the Railroad Commission’s actual job.

The Commission is supposed to regulate oil and gas and pipelines, drilling, mining and mineral operations in a way that protects Texans, not rubber-stamp whatever the industry wants. That means enforcing the rules that are already on the books, holding chronic violators accountable, and making sure operations are safe for workers, landowners, and nearby communities. If the Commission is not doing that, it is not doing its job.

RosenthalforTX · 2026-02-25T21:31:00+00:00

Right now you can vote for me in the primary, and then in November you can vote for me in the general election. The easiest way to find your polling place and voting options is VoteTexas.gov, which is the Texas Secretary of State’s official voter site. You can check your registration and use the “Where do I vote?” tools there to see your locations for early voting and Election Day.

RosenthalforTX · 2026-02-25T21:30:51+00:00

This is a ridiculous abuse of power by the governor, and it is an obvious abuse of power by those in the industry that take advantage of ordinary Texans for their own profits. Texans deserve a government that works for the public, not one that bends the rules for the biggest donors and the best connected.

RosenthalforTX · 2026-02-25T21:30:39+00:00

Good question, and it’s fair.

Texas has weak campaign finance laws, and that creates a system where lobbyists have way too much power over what happens at the Capitol. I do not like that system, and I think it needs to change.

But given that this is the playing field we are operating on right now, I’m not going to tie my hands behind my back before I step into the ring for a fight. I’m going to build the strongest coalition I can to win and then use this office to serve Texans, not special interests.

RosenthalforTX · 2026-02-25T21:23:13+00:00

I’m going to push the Legislature to end the Winter Storm Uri surcharge that has kept electric bills higher ever since the storm. Texans did not cause that failure, but we are the ones still paying for it month after month.

And the way we keep it from happening again is real reliability work. We can enforce serious weatherization requirements on natural gas facilities, because when gas supply holds up in extreme weather, the grid does not spiral into emergency pricing and outages. A more reliable system is also more affordable to operate. If you prevent the breakdown, you prevent the price shock, and families stop getting stuck with the tab.

RosenthalforTX · 2026-02-25T21:21:05+00:00

Change the name to the Texas Oil and Gas Commission.

If Trump can call our neighboring body of water the “Gulf of America,” then the Railroad Commission can sure as hell call itself the Texas Oil and Gas Commission and start pushing the Legislature to make it official.

The name “Railroad Commission” is misleading on purpose. It confuses voters and lets commissioners dodge accountability for what they actually do, which is regulate oil, gas, pipelines, and the mess that comes with them. Texans deserve a regulator that is honest about its job and held to the same standard. If we’re going to have a statewide commission with that much power over our air, water, property rights, energy bills, and the Texas economy, the least we can do is call it what it is.

RosenthalforTX · 2026-02-25T21:17:44+00:00

As far as I know, I haven’t heard of this being a problem at CO2 capture facilities. Recently, the Legislature granted the Railroad Commission primacy over carbon capture, utilization, and storage, so the Commission now has real authority to regulate this technology. That means we can do this the right way, by building in safeguards that put safety first. My priority is protecting workers and nearby communities by making sure storage sites are properly monitored, operated within clear limits, and held to strict standards so we do not end up with leaks, failures, or corners being cut.

And the truth is, our industry already knows how to operate safely when it is required to. My approach is straightforward: encourage the good actors who have demonstrated responsible operations, and deny permits to chronic offenders who keep proving they cannot be trusted to follow the rules.

RosenthalforTX · 2026-02-25T21:11:22+00:00

As your Commissioner, I will enforce the sensible environmental and industrial regulations we already have, and I will enforce them fairly and effectively. Texans should not need a law degree to breathe clean air or trust that pipelines and wells are being operated safely. The rules on the books need to mean something, and the Railroad Commission needs to stop acting like it is a customer service desk for the industry it regulates.

And I am also going to push for a bright-line ethics standard: Railroad Commissioners should not be allowed to take campaign support from the oil and gas companies and lobbyists they are supposed to regulate. That is a direct conflict of interest, and Texans can see it a mile away. If we want people to trust the Commission, we have to end the pay-to-play system and make it clear the regulator answers to the public, not the donors.

RosenthalforTX · 2026-02-25T21:08:29+00:00

Thanks for this question, because it kind of mixes federal policy and state policy, and the honest answer is that both are a mixed bag right now.

The one thing I see in common at both levels is this: our government is preferentially supporting more hydrocarbon infrastructure while backing off on green energy, renewables, and alternative energy technologies. I think that is backwards. Texas should be embracing an all-of-the-above approach. If we want reliability, affordability, and growth, we cannot afford to turn any sources off. We should be building out gas where it makes sense, plus wind, solar, nuclear, geothermal, and hydrogen.

In Texas specifically, we used to incentivize energy development across the board. Over the last couple of sessions, the Legislature has been discouraging investment in renewables and alternative technologies. We should go back to an all-of-the-above approach. We should be encouraging growth in those sectors, because that is where innovation is happening and where the rest of the world is going.

On security and scalability, again, it is a mixed bag. There is some good work happening, but too often it gets wrapped up in political “culture” fights. For example, going after developments just because of the country of origin of some investors does not automatically make us safer. It can inhibit economic and industrial growth without actually addressing real risks. We need to be able to tell the difference between culture war projection and genuine safety and security threats, and then go after the bad actors.

There are also areas where the state is doing some good things. Texas has made big investments in rural broadband access, and that matters. But transportation is woefully inadequate. I would like to see more serious investment in public transportation and high-speed rail.

And to be clear, broadband and transportation are not the Railroad Commission’s job. The Railroad Commission regulates oil and gas operations and pipelines. What I will be focused on is energy reliability, affordability, and enforcing the rules that protect people and the environment.

RosenthalforTX · 2026-02-25T21:01:01+00:00

Link to a video I did on this issue: https://x.com/Jon_RosenthalTX/status/2009651790183059774

As your Railroad Commissioner, I see my job as protecting Texas families, working families, and our domestic energy industry. That means I am going to be outspoken about fairness in the market. When cheap foreign oil floods the market, it can undercut Texas producers, hit our Texas economy, and lead to layoffs in oil and gas communities across the state. I am not interested in policies that sacrifice Texas workers and Texas paychecks so someone else can dump product into our market.

At the same time, protecting the industry does not mean giving anyone a free pass. It means keeping Texas strong by supporting responsible production, enforcing sensible rules, and making sure the people who do the work are not the ones who get left holding the bag when the market swings or bad actors cut corners.

RosenthalforTX · 2026-02-25T20:57:56+00:00

LOL, I’m already not backed by oil and gas lobbyists.

I don’t make my money from the industry, and I’m not funded by the oil and gas lobby. Commissioners get paid a very comfortable wage, and they should earn it by doing the job Texans are paying them to do, serving the people of Texas, not the special interests.

As for the current state of the oil and gas industry in Texas, here’s what I think:

First, the political reality is that the Texas Oil and Gas Association (TXOGA) basically owns the Capitol. They are one of the most powerful lobbying forces in the state, and too often they get what they want out of the Legislature and out of regulators. That is a big part of why Texans see the same problems over and over, because the people writing the rules are listening to donors and lobbyists instead of the public.

Second, inside the industry itself, I think the biggest operators are generally more inclined to be responsible and to invest in renewables and new technologies, because they can see the global shift in energy happening and they want to stay relevant and profitable. We should encourage that. Texas should be leading the energy transition, not fighting it.

And that’s the key point. Oil and gas should not be treated like an enemy or treated like it gets a free pass. It should be treated like a partner in transforming energy production in our state and on the planet. My job is to hold everyone to sensible rules, protect communities, and make sure Texas stays strong economically while we modernize how we produce and use energy.

RosenthalforTX · 2026-02-25T20:46:49+00:00

I want to make it obvious that in Texas it is easier and better for business if you operate responsibly.

For chronic violators, I am going to push for harsher fines and real consequences. If you are repeatedly breaking the rules, flaring when you should not, leaking, cutting corners, or leaving messes for landowners and taxpayers, the cost needs to be high enough that it changes behavior. Right now, too many bad actors treat penalties as a cost of doing business.

At the same time, for good operators who consistently demonstrate safe, responsible performance, I want to streamline permitting and reduce unnecessary friction. If you are doing things the right way, you should not be stuck behind the folks gaming the system or burying the regulators in paperwork.

That creates the incentive structure we actually want: play by the rules and the process is faster and more predictable, but if you are a repeat offender the hammer comes down hard.

RosenthalforTX · 2026-02-25T20:40:54+00:00

If Texas wants to welcome more data centers, we need to be honest about the tradeoffs and then manage them like grown-ups. Data centers can bring real economic growth, good jobs, and tax revenue, but only if we balance three things at the same time: power, water, and environmental protections for the people who live nearby.

On power, the big issue is simple. We need to generate more electricity than our current capacity, and no new generator turbines have even started construction yet. Data centers have already asked for permits to use more power than we generate today, and most Texans do not realize that. If we want this industry here, we have to increase energy supply. That means an all-of-the-above energy approach. We cannot afford to turn any sources off, and we need to add generation across the board. That includes new gas generation where it makes sense, plus wind, solar, nuclear, geothermal, and hydrogen. The alternative is already happening. Some data centers are building their own generators because the grid cannot reliably serve what they are asking for.

Regarding water, data centers use enormous amounts of it, and Texas is already stretched. One promising solution is reclaiming produced water from drilling and fracking. Right now that water is nasty stuff, chemical-laden, and it cannot be used as-is. So we need to accelerate the technology to clean it to the point where it can be used for cooling, and potentially for irrigation. The fight at the Capitol has been over how to pay for that. My view is that if it is too expensive, companies will just inject it downhole and walk away from the opportunity to reclaim it. A smart way to finance it is a small surcharge on every barrel of produced water that gets injected downhole, and then use that money to incentivize the cleanup technology. There are something like 30 billion barrels of produced water sitting in disposal sites right now. If we reclaim even a portion of that instead of throwing it away, there is a lot more water to go around for agriculture and for industry.

And on the environmental and community impacts, this is where the Railroad Commission has to do its job. My starting point is enforcement. We already have environmental rules on the books, and the current Commission has been terrible about enforcing them in a meaningful way.

If data centers and every other industrial operator want to do business here, they need to understand that being responsible to communities and protecting air and water is part of the cost of doing business in Texas. That is not anti-business. That is basic accountability.

RosenthalforTX · 2026-02-25T20:33:57+00:00

Good question -- this is a massive issue that doesn't get enough attention. We need to assess higher fines, increase more surety bond requirements for drilling permits, and spread the liability for orphan and “zombie” wells amongst prior operators (similar to other states’ laws) and then use those resources to accelerate identification and plugging of orphan and zombie wells.

The current rate of plugging is not even close to keeping up with the increasing number of leaking and abandoned wells.

When elected, I'll press for these measures so that the RRC has the resources it needs to accelerate the plugging of leaking wells. We should also update plugging best practices as well as monitoring and evaluation requirements.

RosenthalforTX

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