There's a sensible reason why companies fund campaigns.
- Click here for the article.
A company seeking to build an oilfield waste dump near wells and waterways in East Texas has showered regulators with upwards of $50,000 in political contributions since 2019.
Texas Ethics Commission filings reviewed by Inside Climate News show that McBride Operating LLC contributed $10,000 to Texas Railroad Commission Chair Christi Craddick on Nov. 28. Fifteen days later, Craddick joined fellow commissioners Jim Wright and Wayne Christian in giving the company another opportunity to address concerns about its controversial application to build an oilfield waste site in the city of Paxton.
While commissioners must recuse themselves from cases in which they have a “personal or private interest,” these rules do not apply to cases related to political donors. The protracted debate over the Paxton waste dump permit raises questions about whether campaign finance and ethics rules in Texas allow oil and gas companies to sway regulators, environmental and corporate accountability advocates say.
Those advocates have long called for reforms to rein in the influence of oil and gas companies over the Railroad Commission.
“The railroad commissioners are personally responsible for cheapening and tarnishing their office by continuing to take significant amounts of money from parties who have cases on their docket,” said Andrew Wheat, research director of Texans for Public Justice and co-author of the Captive Industry report with Virginia Palacios of the nonprofit Commission Shift.
McBride and Craddick both denied that campaign contributions had any impact on their actions regarding McBride’s proposed waste site.
“Chairman Craddick considers fact and merit alone,” said Mia Hutchens Hale, Craddick’s director of public affairs. “Maintaining public trust is of utmost importance and she operates with complete transparency.”
Relevant terms:
- regulators
- political contributions
- Texas Ethics Commission
- McBride Operating LLC
- Texas Railroad Commission
- Christi Craddick
- Jim Wright
- Wayne Christian
- city of Paxton.
- recuse
- waste dump permit
- campaign finance and ethics rules
- environmental and corporate accountability
- Andrew Wheat
- Texans for Public Justice
- Virginia Palacios of the nonprofit
- Commission Shift.
- “constitutionally protected democratic process.”
- Sabine River
- technical permitting division
- Eric Garrett
- Paxton Water Supply Corp.
- Captive Agency report
- Texas Sunset Advisory Commission
- conflicts of interest
