After spending two months ignoring the public, the Texas Railroad Commission will reinstate general public comment at its December 2026 meeting, according to the Texas Tribune. The agency’s two remaining Republicans will also welcome Democrat Jon Rosenthal in January, giving them a thrilling new opportunity to outvote him 2-1.
Commissioners Christi Craddick, Wayne Christian, and outgoing member Jim Wright voted in late August to scrap the two-decade policy letting regular Texans speak on off-agenda items. State Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, promptly threatened a 2027 legislative probe, reminding the agency that his job as House Energy Resources chair is “not to cheerlead the industry or regulators.”
Faced with actual oversight, Christian folded and agreed to bring back public comment. Under Darby’s compromise, the commission will also keep its new outreach events, which elected commissioners aren’t even required to attend—a real triumph for civic engagement.
Enter the lone Democrat
The Tribune reports that Rosenthal, a four-term state representative and 25-year oil field engineer from Cypress, defeated Republican Bo French in November to become the first Democrat on the commission in more than 30 years. When his six-year term starts Jan. 4, he plans to push for banning fossil fuel campaign donations, ending routine gas flaring, charging wastewater disposal fees, and publishing commissioners’ calendars.
Christian greeted the news by warning against a “political climate crisis crusade against fossil fuels,” even though he and Craddick still hold a decisive majority. Oil industry leaders seemed far less panicked, pointing to Rosenthal’s engineering background and noting that commission action still requires a majority vote.
Permian Basin Petroleum Association president Ben Shepperd wasn’t sweating the election either, noting that Texas oil and gas survived over 100 years of Democratic leadership and adding, “I’m not overly concerned.”
If Texas oil regulators survive listening to the public and outvoting one engineer every month, can they even call it hard work?
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