BIG COUNTRY, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – Democratic State Representative Jon Rosenthal (HD-135) is seeking to become Texas’ next Railroad Commissioner, saying it’s time for someone with firsthand oil and gas experience to lead the agency and bring meaningful change.
Rosenthal has represented House District 135 for nearly eight years. A mechanical engineer, he spent more than 25 years working in the oil and gas industry before serving four terms in the Texas House. Now, the Houston-area lawmaker is taking his campaign statewide.
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Rosenthal said he decided to run following the widespread power outages during Winter Storm Uri in 2021, which exposed weaknesses in Texas’ energy infrastructure.
“When the chairman of the Energy Resources Committee flatly refused to act on the problem, I was extremely frustrated. I used some coarse language… I had decided I was going to come back to address this problem, and this is me coming back to address that problem,” Rosenthal shared. “The first thing is weatherizing natural gas facilities, and we’re [the oil and gas industry] already working on it… In that, you want to make sure that your most critical production fields will stay up and operating if a massive winter storm happens again, and so I would just work with industry on reliability plans to weatherize our most critical natural gas facilities.”
Rosenthal said the Railroad Commission oversees roughly 1,000 employees and operates with a biennial budget of about $500 million. He believes his engineering background sets him apart from the current commission.
“I feel like you need that kind of experience to develop sensible solutions that work with our industry partners to move our state forward, keep our industry responsible and profitable at the same time. And I’ll just say, when a Democrat wins in the state of Texas for the first time in decades over 30 years, I think that’s an opportunity to shake up the status quo and really push for real change,” Rosenthal said.
Rosenthal also hopes to change how Democrats are viewed when it comes to the oil and gas industry.
“I recognize that the oil and gas industry is the backbone of our economy. The revenues that come from oil and gas production pay for our schools, our roads, our parks, and so much more. So, it’s vitally important that our industry stays healthy, and I think that we can be profitable and responsible for the environment and our communities all at the same time,” Rosenthal expressed.
He plans to travel the state to visit with Texans of all backgrounds to learn how to represent everyone, including those in the agriculture and livestock industries.
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Although the Railroad Commission does not regulate data centers, Rosenthal said the state should establish safeguards to ensure they responsibly manage power and water resources.
“If we’re going to invite this technology and this industry here, we have to manage the resources for these things responsibly. So I do believe we should have statewide rules, safeguards that require a resource management plan,” Rosenthal shared.
He also said data centers should be encouraged to generate their own electricity rather than placing additional demand on Texas’ power grid.
“We live in a state where we run dangerously close to our capacity for power generation, both on very hot days and very cold days, and these folks consume enough electricity that we just can’t provide it, given our current electrical grid,” Rosenthal explained. “I would say the same thing about water in areas of the state where water is scarce, and that is a huge problem in Texas right now. Maybe they should be desalinating, or I advocate for them to work on technologies to remediate produced water… Remediate it, clean it up to the point where it can be used to cool data centers, or irrigate crops, or even go to the point where you could use it for human consumption. It would be addressing two problems at the same time.”
Another priority for Rosenthal is campaign finance reform. He said commissioners should not accept campaign contributions from industries they regulate.
“The current regulators make money from their industry, so they actually make money off of the actions that they take as regulators, and so I think we should end that practice. The commission, the Railroad Commission of Texas, is paid for by your taxes and mine. The primary job of the government is to protect the people, not to be lapdogs for the industry,” Rosenthal expressed.
If elected, Rosenthal said he plans to use his legislative experience to advocate for the Railroad Commission at the Capitol.
“I will talk with my colleagues, and basically, I think my position will be: y’all messed this up so bad. You helped me, a Democrat, get elected statewide for the first time in a generation, and here’s what you need to do, or we’re coming for more of your seats, and let’s just see if we can’t get some action,” Rosenthal said.
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Rosenthal also said he would seek to increase the agency’s budget and staffing levels to strengthen oversight and enforcement.
“My final pitch is: if you want an energy grid that’s more reliable, if you want clean air, clean water, clean land, if you want to protect good jobs and expand our energy infrastructure in Texas, hire the expert, hire the engineer, and not the political extremist,” Rosenthal expressed.
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