The Texan Podcast - Interview: Commissioner-Elect Jim Wright Talks Texas Energy Sector

Episode Date: December 19, 2020

Railroad Commissioner-elect Jim Wright joined The Texan’s reporter Brad Johnson to discuss his campaign, Texas’ energy sector, and his coming job on the regulatory board. In the interview, the political upstart Wright explains what the Railroad Commission does and details his plan for serving on the body.

Hi, I'm Brad Johnson, reporter at The Texan. Today we had Railroad Commissioner-elect Jim Wright in studio to discuss his platform, his coming role on the body, and his campaigns. We also discussed his love of rodeo. To see more, please visit thetexan.news. Hello folks, welcome to the Texan News Podcast. And today we are proud to have Jim Wright, Railroad Commissioner-elect for Texas. Jim, thanks for joining us.

Thank you guys for having me. I appreciate you having me on today to talk about the issues and how I got here and those kind of things. Yeah, it's certainly not a position that a lot of people really know about, and that's kind of why you flew under the radar, largely. And, you know, you had these massive successes in the campaigns themselves. First of all, upsetting Commissioner, sitting Commissioner Ryan Sitton, and then defeating the incredibly well-funded Democrat opponents in the general. The first thing I want to ask you about is,

have you gotten any sleep since the victory on November 3rd? You know, I have actually now. I think during the campaign, it was a lot of sleepless nights. Yeah. Going a lot of different places. You know, Texas is a huge state. So for me to get my message out and get around, we were moving dramatically to make sure we were in front of the voters and getting our message out there. But since then, it's been more of a transition, which it to you know slowed way down and and in the transition is going well and so yeah

we're we're back to it almost normal okay and you're getting ready for the job at hand yes sir that's that's exactly what we're doing well I know you have a lot of experience in the energy industry pretty much your whole career has been spent somewhere within Texas's oil and gas industry. Why don't you tell us a little bit about the businesses you started and how you make money in the private industry? Yeah, you know, I started my first business in 1991 and I worked for a large corporation prior to that in the energy industry and not just the oil field, but petrochemical utility and government also.

And in starting my first company, you know, I had the ability to actually start in the utility side, the electrical side, doing work for them. And as that developed, we brought in petrochemical, did services for them. And then the discovery of the shale, which was approximately 15 years ago, the oil field really started to increase. We saw a lot of activity there. And naturally, our company, being an environmental services company, kind of tracked behind them and started doing a lot of services for that side. It was in that that really brought me to the race at the Railroad Commission and the dealings that I was doing for my customer base at the commission and some of

the issues that I saw that I felt needed to be changed there. And, you know, I've always run my companies based on getting my people together. If we have issues, sitting down and saying, okay, here's the issue. Let's talk about what what the solutions are and once we all agree on that solution how are we going to implement it now we're gonna how are we gonna make sure it works yeah and so you know I did the same thing with the Commission before I decided to run for this race and I formed a task force that was well received by the commissioners or one of the commissioners to where we could allow us to volunteer our time to help write guidance documents on rules that are being applied by staff members and you see

this a lot in government agencies where they'll hire an individual that does not necessarily have the experience to to regulate what what they're regulating but they have they have a degree background that gives them some validity there but when you hand them a rule and say you know it's your job to make sure that this rules applied correctly and and you kind of allow them to form their own interpretation of what that rule really says and so you've got different people that interpret things differently, kind of much like the Bible and how its interpretation has been over time.

And so as you deal in trying to continue increasing our economy and making sure our jobs are safe here in Texas, and you run against issues with staff at the Railroad Commission that kind of halts that, you know, it's not good for Texas. So that was, you know, myself, a lot of my customer base had volunteered to create a task force where we could come in and start helping write guidance documents to where as you hired staff members that didn't have a lot of experience in the long gas industry, had at least a layman type document that says, here's how the rule's been applied in the past.

Here's really what the rule means. And this is how you apply it going forward in the future. And one of the commissioners thought that was a great idea. She allowed us exposure to the staff, but what we kind of saw at the staff level was, you know, they weren't really willing to work with us to try to come up with those documents. Okay. And my task force kind of recognized that we felt the tag, that the tail was wagging the dog there. And so that's whenever that task force looked at me and said, you know, Jim, we want to make these kind of changes. And we would like for you to consider throwing your hat in the ring to run for railroad commissioner. Because, you know, you've not only been involved with all the energy sector, but you've been really involved with the long gas, you know, since the discovery of the shale.

You know how the nuts and bolts work out here. We would like to have a commissioner that has more experience on that side of things than more on the legislative side and how politics work. And that was in July of 2019 when our board kind of disassembled and we weren't getting to work with staff like we thought we would be able to, that they brought that up to me. And it was actually three days before the deadline to register for Railroad Commission that I actually made up my own mind that I would take this task on to continue to try to make this difference. So that's what really brought me to hunting for the Railroad Commission. And those are the changes that I've said during my campaign that I've been saying way before my campaign

that I want to do for Texas so that we can keep fossil fuel industry, we can keep our bases of our economy in Texas strong. And that's important to me because Texas is pretty much 100% dependent on oil and gas. And if we lose that ability, Texas is not going to have a very strong economy. We're seeing that play out, especially on the fiscal side, not just individuals' pocketbooks, but the state itself is going to have, as the legislature convenes for the upcoming session, they're going to have quite an ordeal in front of them. When you look at what's happened to the industry in 2020, coupled with the pandemic and the price war that seems to always come around from our competition, we're not going to realize that tax base that we had in 2019.

So our budget is going to be suffering from a state level. And what scares me a little bit about legislature is how are we going to make up those shortfall differences? And I think that's where it becomes very important is what is our plan moving forward to get legs back under oil and gas and make sure that we continue that tax basis that we've enjoyed from the oil and gas industry and what that's done for Texas. Yeah. You mentioned the regulatory body aspect of it. And, you know, everyone talks about conceptualizing the abstract. Oh, you know, this body passes rules or this legislature passes laws. But actually putting that into action and,

you know, bring it to fruition is a whole other ordeal entirely. And it requires a lot of know-how. You know, what, obviously you have actual experience in the industry. What are specific other ordeal entirely and it requires a lot of know-how you know what obviously you have actual experience in the industry or specific things that you hope to bring to the table in order to you know make that fulfill that not being a politician never I I don't I see a lot of politicians that make promises that that really are impossible to keep. So I've made two promises that I want to continue to work on. One is those guidance documents.

And two is just transparency to where I get more people involved, not only from the industry but landowners and people just in general from Texas, to bring them into the Railroad Commission so they can see how things work there through task force and start offering their opinions and what they think the changes should be so that we continue to stay at the forefront with our oil and gas and the natural resources we're blessed with here in Texas. We mentioned the economic downturn,

especially that hit hard the oil and gas industry. What is the commission's role in that recovery? Is it issuing certain rules that may enable them to better choose how many places to drill, which places to drill holes to cap, things like that. Is there anything that you have mapped out? That is exactly what the Railroad Commission has the obligation to do. But I think there's also an unsaid obligation from the Railroad Commissioner, where as commissioners, we are looked to lead this industry. And I think that the commission, as us, the commissioners, need to start looking outside the box. You know, how do we promote our industry while continuing to uphold our environmental concerns and making those better? Being in the environmental business all my life, I can tell you I've done it day in and day out. Environmental regulation can continue to improve right alongside our improvement with our economy.

And I think that's something that we as commissioners need to continue to promote. In asking the question, you know, what are we going to do to better this thing in the future? I think that transparency is a really huge key in that. And getting public opinion, when I say public industry, landowners, general public, to have the ability to come in and have their say so on what they would do and what they would like to see you know I think this election proved that Texas knows the value of our natural resources and and I think that there will not be an issue of getting people to volunteer to help and bring those opinions to the table.

Yeah. And that's kind of something that transcends party lines. I was out at various town halls for a specific congressional campaign out in the Hill Country. And obviously, environmental concerns are hugely important on their minds, especially on the left side of the aisle. But that's something you talked about in the campaign as well. And obviously your background as, you know, environmental services consultant, you know, what are some, first of all, how, what is your business like in the private sector? You know, how do you actually go about cleaning up these things? And then how does that transition into, you know, your role as a railroad commissioner? Yeah. You know, what we, what we usually get calls on in my side of the business is, hey, we've got an environmental issue and we need to address this and make sure that we clean it up properly and we do the right reporting on it and handle that waste the way we should by rule. And it's in that that we run into a lot of roadblocks in trying to get that done. And one of the things I tell my customers is I think transparency in doing that

and letting the public know what it is you're trying to accomplish and why it occurred is very important. Because what I see a lot coming out of the industry is if there are environmental issues, they tend to want to push them under the mat and not bring attention to that, which I think is a mistake. I think the industry really needs to be proud of what they've accomplished in the environmental world in protecting our environment because they have made vast improvements in that and they continue to.

You know, as technology comes out, I've seen oil and gas more than petrochemical or utility seek, obtain that technology and put it to use. And I think that we will continue to do that as technology is available. Yeah. One such example of technology is carbon capture. And it's not just the public sector that is trying to develop that. Various private firms have really pioneered that kind of technology. And essentially, it's pulling carbon dioxide that is emitted out of the air and using it for other purposes. For example, one company turns it into carbonation for pop. And so that's just one example of the way it's done.

You see Oxy today. They've really taken that bull by the horns, and they've addressed that. They've invested money into doing that. You know, the oil and gas industry, I think, is hugely concerned about any impact that they feel like we're putting on the environment. But I think there's also an educational process on, you know, what are the facts when it comes to what is oil and gas really contributing to inhibiting our environment. And I think that's a campaign that the Railroad Commission needs to lead and make sure that we produce facts for people to see. Okay. So we've talked a lot about the Railroad Commission and how you see it playing out. Can you tell us in your own words what it

does? Because it is not something that a lot of people in the first place even know about, let alone know what they do. And obviously it has this kind of odd name because its history lies in regulating specifically railroads, and it kind of transitioned to this other energy sector regulating body. Can you tell us what it does for our viewers? The Railroad Commission is the oldest governmental agency here in Texas. I don't know if people realize that or not. I did not realize that. You know, back when it started, railroads were just getting started and very popular way of transporting goods around the state and also interstate commerce. And so

there was a need to have a government agency that protected landowners, kind of regulated what that transport cost would be to the consumer. And that's what started the Railroad Commission. We were unaware during those times of the plethora of natural resources that we had here. And as that discovery came about, that became a whole new animal to where one agency really didn't have the ability to regulate transportation, the oil and gas industry on the natural resource side. So it was broken apart to where they said, okay, we did call you and we continue to call you the Texas Railroad Commission, but we really need you to start regulating our natural resources, which is our main responsibility is to protect that.

You know, Texas, again, is very blessed to have a plethora of those resources. And that's what makes us, I think, the greatest state in the nation. And you need an agency that can make sure that we don't abuse that. And that's really what the Railroad Commission does today. You know, when people say, you know, you're very disguised whenever it comes to your name and what you really do, I think that that just goes to show that the industry and the Railroad Commission has done a really poor job of promoting what it is we are. And I think that's very important coming up, especially in 2021, that we promote and educate people on how important the Railroad Commission is to our economy here in Texas. And that was a theme in your campaign.

Yes. The Railroad Commission needs a PR campaign because they have not been, you know, incredibly forthright about, you know. I mean, that's, you know, it's very evident. A lot of people, and I went to a lot of meetings and that was one of the first questions I would ask is who in here really knows what the Railroad Commission does? And I was amazed, you know, and that tells me that we've done a really bad job of educating people on the importance of that agency. Have you started plans on towards that end? Oh, definitely. You know, we, we, we not only are continuing forward on that task force to writing those guidance documents, but we're creating other task force. And one of those is education. And that education is educating people on what the Railroad Commission is, what does our natural resources mean for Texas,

and bringing that to the forefront of saying, okay, what is best for consumer versus the other technology and renewable energy today? I think that's a huge education process that we need to be on the offensive with because I strongly still believe that we outweigh and outdo that technology today when it comes to renewable energy as far as the impact not only on the environment, but the price to the consumer. I think that we need to educate people on what that means. That I think is going to take a task force to put out a consistent message, not only from the Railroad Commission, but from the industry itself.

The vast majority of Texas' energy grid comes from power based on, you know, oil and gas. That's correct. And, you know, that doesn't even take into account, you know, cars driving, airplanes, that kind of thing. Texas does have, does lead the nation in wind production. And I believe it's pretty close, if not top of the list, in the country for solar as well. So it's got quite a portfolio of, you know, different energy sources that it uses. But without a doubt, the oil and gas is king in Texas. And, you know, likely until, you know, something radically changes, that will remain so. And that's the challenge that Texas has

going into this next year and the years to come due to the pandemic. And as you mentioned, the price war that OPEC specifically wage. In terms of the international community or trade, that kind of thing, what is the commission's role to play there? Well, you know, from a regulatory standpoint, there's really not a rule that makes us be the one that figures out where those markets are. Our industry's done a good job at that, but I think we are the ones that need to help promote that and open a pathway for our industry to open up more markets. I think that we did a great thing in discovery of the shell.

We have told the world that, hey, we've discovered that we have an abundancy of natural resources and we can not only supply our domestic needs, but we can compete on a worldwide scale. We've proven that. What we haven't done a good job of is figuring out, you know, where is really our market and what is our competition and how do we deal with that?

And, you know, when you talk about flaring issues and those kind of things that you see in the media today, that kind of dictates what I just said. You know, we have an abundancy of natural gas. We have a lot of crude oil. And crude oil demand has exceeded what our natural gas demand is. But if we stop that production of crude oil to get where natural gas is even with it, where it's all marketable, then we back ourselves up way in time and now start becoming more dependent on foreign sources. So it's a complicated issue that most people don't understand, and that's part of that education process.

To combat the flaring issues, the waste of that natural gas today, I think the commission needs to help lead the charge on the other end of the pipe to make sure we have a market for it. And it's an economic market that makes sense. You know, just the other day you saw that France is saying, you know, Texas is a huge polluter when it comes to flaring off natural gas and what, you know, what it does to our atmosphere, that they denied their first load of LNG. They've also backed out of investments in LNG plants here in Texas because of that fact. You know, I think that we have got to rapidly step up and say, you know, here's the facts whenever we're looking at what that impediment is to the environment when it comes to flaring. Actually, flaring is the best technology we have today. What we have to do is we got to keep crude production and flaring the same when it comes

to marketing so that we're not wasting that resource but as far as its impact on our atmosphere co2 is something that's that is our atmosphere you know and co2 as it has evolved as as the world has evolved you know from the history that i read you know the dinosaur ages and you see the vegetation that i that i've read about in history co2 promotes vegetation growth. It's just, it's part of what we experience. It's part of being on earth. So, you know, I think that there needs to be a lot more study and a lot more research on what is really causing the fluctuation of CO2 increase. I do know that man has contributed to that, but at what detriment?

You know, which has not been proven to me. Yeah. So I think those are things that when we talk about education and we talk about that is bringing experts in that have the knowledge to put some facts out for people so people can weigh that to say, okay, you know, I didn't know this, but here are the facts. And let them gauge, you know, where they want their energy to come from. I think that's the number one thing. But without those facts, how do you make those decisions?

Yeah. The current picture of emissions generally is that, you know, raw emissions is increasing and it's higher than it was in the past because our production's higher, right? Now that said, flaring intensity specifically that, you know, that has drastically been reduced in terms of how much it increases year on year. And that's because technology has gotten better at pulling more and more from, you know, the unit of a barrel of oil and not letting as much waste run off from that, whether it's emissions or pollution or whatnot, technology has improved. One of the things that the commission, that I will try to work toward at the commission and make sure that we do a great better job at is saying, okay, producer, you're going to have to do more disclosure to us where it is you're

hitting and in production and drilling and so that we can start trying to size plants that process natural gas to take the natural gas that historically comes from those of those deposits and I think that's a big key in trying to help that that flaring issue that we have right now. Because what's happened in the past is that's kind of a secretive process. Nobody wants to say, I'm going to move to northeast Texas because I know there's a huge find here. Yeah. That's always secretive.

And so what happens is you start drilling and we don't have the infrastructure to handle the gas that comes with that. And I think that's something that the commission is obligated to do to make sure that we have a method that says, look, if you make a discovery, we need to make sure that we have the infrastructure to handle everything that's coming out of that hole. Yeah. And I think that's easily done. And I think you'll see that industry through 2020, that's become very apparent, that we're going to have to start working together better than we have in the past.

Some of those technologies include, or infrastructure, sorry, include pipelines. Pipelines, gas processing plants, transmission lines, those kind of things. The things that work economically that create jobs here in Texas. Without a company out there that's making profits, you can't afford to pay people. And we need to make sure that that economy is balanced out with what it provides and the livelihood and the jobs here in Texas. Absolutely. Transitioning a bit back to campaign stuff, since that was, first off, your primary win was remarkable just in terms

of, you know, the sheer shock that everyone had. No one expected it. When I spoke to you, you didn't even expect it. And so, you know, tell us a little bit about your strategy going into that campaign. Obviously, you were way overmatched in terms of, you know, campaign infrastructure and name ID because the sitting commissioner had been in office for six years, I think, and he had a $2 million campaign war chest now. He didn't dip into that, which we can get into, but tell us what was your strategy and messaging like during the primary?

You know, it's the same messages that we're talking about today. Number one, it was the guidance documents and then creating transparency, and that transparency has a lot of things that are under it, education, sustainability in our market, those kinds of things. You know, and I think that's what people, and I know that's what people here in Texas are interested in, and that's what people in Texas want to see. And that was my message everywhere that I went during the primary. You know, I think that Texans are tired of seeing people that come in and don't really make a difference for them or better their livelihood. And I think that's why they said, you know what, Jim Wright seems like he knows what he's doing. He's been in the business. He is a businessman.

He's got experience in the oil and gas. And I think that resonated very well in the primary. You know, you said it earlier. I didn't know that I'd have a chance because I know nothing about politics. You know, even to the way that I'd raise my money. You know, I took money from some friends. I didn't even approach the industry because I didn't want to take people's money that I knew I couldn't pay back on a race that probably couldn't be won. You know, so that's kind of why I didn't seek to raise a lot of money during the primary. You know, I wanted to go out and see what, you know, what did Texas think, you know, and me sitting at home, not being a politician and watching elections in the past, you know, I want to hear a candidate that can stand up, not promise the world, but make good sound promises that I feel will work, that would be better for me and my lifestyle. And, and, uh, I think that's what the message

is today, especially from Texas on, on everybody is, you know, we want people to, that's what the message is today, especially from Texas on everybody is we want people that's going to do something for us. And so I think that's what carried me through the primary against the sitting opponent, and that of why you won was the rural community. You pulled in numbers that I had never seen before, at least in relation to your opponent. You won by 220,000 votes in the primary. And the margin that you won by in counties fewer than 30,000 people was almost 30, I believe, in the primary. And, you know, what message really resonated with those voters? You know, in the rural community, you've got people out there that are mainly landowners. And so they deal in the oil and gas industry. And as you put the message out that I've talked about before, those are day-to-day

issues that they deal with every day. So in most of rural Texas, there is oil and gas activity in some form or fashion. And I think, again, that's the people that really wanted to make sure that somebody got elected that upheld what oil and gas means for Texas. And when you look at the rural side of things, they seem to have more knowledge of what these, our natural resources are just because they they're living in it day to day whereas you see big metropolitan areas such as austin houston dallas san antonio people are more entrenched into other jobs you know hotel restaurants manufacturing those kind of things that don't really have their finger on what oil

and gas means for Texas. Their experience with it is, you know, flipping on their light switch or charging their phone. That's about it. You know, and I think it's those people that we really need to get the message out to better to educate them on what natural resources is doing for their jobs. You know, if you're walking into a restaurant, people don't realize that what's really supplying the revenue for that restaurant is somebody that has revenue that's, you know, generated by oil and gas activity or somebody rents a hotel room. Most of that is by revenue generated from oil and gas activity, especially here in Texas.

Pretty much everything we do is dependent on that. So when you talk about let's abolish that, what you're really saying is let's just throw our economy out the door. You know, Texas, Texas back in the 1800s, we depended on, on cattle and farming. And I just don't think we can, we can go back to cattle and farming and expect to enjoy the lifestyle that we have here in Texas. And I've been all over the world and I've been to every state here in the nation. And the cost of living here, the people that are here in the state of Texas, I wouldn't trade for anything that I've been to. So, you know, I think it's important. And I think people do see that. You saw it in the election and the general. They don't want to lose that. Yeah. And one of the issues that you kind of

alluded to, especially relating to the more rural voters, was property rights. And this is something that you harped on a lot during the campaign. You emphasized it quite a bit. You know, how, what's the Railroad Commission's role in protecting property rights as it relates to well and gas? Good question. We at the commission regulate our intrastate pipeline structure, which in simpler terms, that's the gathering system that brings it to an interstate transmission line that gets it to a market. So we have complete control over that.

And as those gathering systems have to be developed through what we're developing in production, you have a lot of issues that develop between a landowner. I'm one of them. I don't really want somebody coming in and bulldozing a huge swathe through the middle of my ranch to put a pipeline in. It's just, it doesn't look good. But at the same time... It probably interrupts various other aspects of the ranch. But also recognize that without that pipeline system, it really harms our economy.

You know, and I think there is a genuine way that we can work together with those landowners by utilizing existing right-of-ways that we already have. You know, Texas is riddled with right-of-ways that we already have, Texas is riddled with right-of-ways. What I never see is two different companies in the same right-of-way. So I think there's a lot of ways of working and fixing those that the commission could actually look at and change and rule changing. Of course, that involves legislature. But when you look at a pipeline company that walks up to your door and says, hey, we'd like to make a deal to run a pipeline across your property, and you hand them a piece of paper that says, if you don't make a deal with me,

I'm going to condemn your property to do it. It's not exactly a deal. It's kind of like walking up and saying, here's your set of boxing gloves. I've already got mine on. Let's fight. And I think that needs to be changed also, but that's going to take a federal level initiative that the commission needs to really kind of work toward getting the feds to say, you know what, there's a better way of doing this. We need to work in harmony to do it. Yeah. Killing two birds with one stone in essence. You kind of mentioned the general and the themes that arose in that in terms of a lot of these outside forces really advocating anti-oil and gas initiatives.

One of those was Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City who ran in the Democrat presidential primary, who notoriously spent, I think it was $120-some billion on his run. And he dumped in $2.3 billion against you for your opponent, Chris Dacoste. $2.3 million. $2.3 million. Sorry. My apologies. And so what was that like when you got the call about that?

How did that affect your strategy moving forward? Well, you know, it certainly shocked us, you know, to see all that outside money. When you look at my opponent and what she actually raised in Texas, and that's why I'm so proud of Texas today. I mean, Texas does know the value of what our natural resources are. She managed to raise, I think, $52,000 inside the state of Texas, and the rest of her $4 million came from outside and came from sources such as Bloomberg and sources that fund environmental defense groups like Amazon and Gates and those kind of companies. And so I start scratching my head, and I'm thinking, you know, why would these large, huge corporations, these very wealthy people, be so interested in the Texas Railroad Commission race here in Texas?

And I remember back in the 90s in my company, I was working with a guy that wanted to come in and build an incineration system to handle garbage. And he actually flew and met me out of the Caymans, but he's from Tennessee. And he and his wife came in on a jet. I picked him up at the airport and went to dinner that night. And I was, you know, I had never met him. I just, he wanted to talk to me about the garbage business. And I asked him about his background. He said, well, you know, I'm a coal miner out of Tennessee. I said, why do you live in the Caymans? He said, well, in the Caymans, you don't have to pay taxes like if we were lived in the United States. I said, is there that much money in coal? You know, it's kind of confusing. He goes, no, not really. I said, well, you know, evidently you're making a lot of money. You know, what's really going on here? He said, well, he said,

Jim, there's a deal called efficient coal. And what efficient coal is, is we add an additive to it where it burns the BTU value, burns hotter. And it takes less of that, which decreases its admittance into the atmosphere. And it's more of an energy source that helps our environment. I said, okay, well, what does that have to do with how you make all your money? He said, well, what we do is it costs a lot of money to create that efficient type coal with the additive that we put onto it, and it generates huge losses. I said, well, now you really got me confused living in the Caymans.

If you're just creating huge losses, how do you make money? And he said, well, he said there's a tax credit that the IRS allows. And I think he used the IRS tax code 242 somewhere in there allows this to happen, where just as an example, if it costs me $60 a ton to produce that efficient coal, but I can only sell it in the market for $25 a ton. I have that net loss. I can actually bundle those losses and sell those to corporations here in the United States to offset their income tax liability from a corporate tax level. So I'm sitting there watching this happen to my opponent and the stuff that you're seeing going on with all the environmental organizations,

and I'm thinking, what is really driving this? You know, I don't see the Bloombergs or a lot of these other people really and truly being concerned about our environment or anybody here in America. What I think they're trying to do is, and this is just me, And I think that there is an effort to take their tax base from a corporate level and get it down a lot lower where they're not really benefiting America and paying their share of taxes. And I think that's what's really behind the renewable energy drive now today. It has to be something. You know, I always say to people, if you want to know the answer to the truth, you follow the money. And so I think that needs to be researched. And I think that's part of that education process of why did they do that?

You know, why did they come in and dump that much money behind my opponent. And so I think that, that, uh, you know, her having that kind of money and her getting on TV and, and, and I guess there's a school out there for the left side that they go to that says you can win a race by lying about your opponent. And, and, uh, that they thought was going to be successful for them. Again, me personally, when I see politicians stand up and they bash their opponents and don't really say what they can do for Texas, that doesn't impress me. And I think that was a mistake that they made in this race. Okay. So when you were traveling the states in the general, any notable stories from the campaign trail, people you spoke to,

interesting perspectives that were pointed out to you that you hadn't thought about before. Yeah, it is. You know, one of the areas that we were really concerned in, in the general, was how the suburban housewife would be voting, you know, and because of all the media that you see against fossil fuels. And so I had the pleasure of meeting with a bunch of them in Houston at a meeting. And I sat there and I thought, you know, what's a good way of trying to get this message across of how important natural resources are for our economy here in Texas? And I started that meeting out by saying, you know, you're all a women group.

How many of you women in here own a Louis Vuitton purse? And I had probably six or seven out of the 75 that were there raised their hands and and I said how many of you women in here would love to own a Louis Vuitton purse they all raised their hands and I said okay with honesty can you tell me that you want to own a Louis Vuitton purse because you went on Google and you researched this great quality and you wanted to spend that kind of money because of its quality or did you buy that purse because Kim Kardashian and every other actress was hanging it off their shoulder? You know, and the truth that came out of that meeting was we bought it because

it's kind of a fad. And I said, so just bear with me and use that same analogy when it comes to what you believe oil and gas is doing to our environment. And I said, you know, I think that's where the message has kind of gotten messed up is that you see it and somebody said it that you have respect for and you believe it. You know, I can't stress enough for you to really do the research yourself and know the truth. And I think that's part of our job to make sure that that's known. And, you know, when I was done with that meeting, I was amazed because every one of them came up and shook my hand and said, you have my

support because we never looked at it that way. You're right. You know, we look at the media and we see and we believe. Yeah. And the Louis Vuitton example is a perfect example of that. Yeah. Another aspect of it is, you know, people have no idea what oil itself goes into, you know, plastics, that kind of thing. Everything. Everything. Like the iPhone that everyone carries around, that's made because of oil. And so not only just through the process, but the materials itself. And so, you know, without it, a lot of things will change. And, you know, a lot of people don't really understand them as you alluded to. So, you know, so any lessons you've learned on the trail itself, you know, as it wound down and, you know, you got closer to election day,

any lessons that you're taking into your new role with the commission? Definitely. What this has taught me is, you know, exactly where do we stand as far as people are concerned with what the Railroad Commission does. And I've gotten a better example, a better look at what people are concerned with just through seeing the election and talking to the people that I've talked to. And you're right, you know, that our rural community is very, very dependent on oil and gas. I think they understand that that is the basis of our economy.

I think the message that we need to get out is to make sure that we have facts in front of people that live in more of the higher populated areas to say, you know, here is fossil fuel and here's the alternatives. And so that's what I saw and that's what I learned more of through this race. You know, when I came in, I thought it was going to be as simple as, you know, these guidance documents and helping make sure that we move forward and not are impeded in our economic gain. But it's not. It's very complicated, and it's a big job. And that's the reason I've added to those task force

and trying to get answers to that in a path forward that the commission can lead to make things better for Texas. Absolutely. Let's talk more about yourself, an unknown quantity, really, for most voters. What are some things you'd like people to know about you? Obviously, we talked about your business and what you do. What are some other things that people should know? At heart, if I could go home and I didn't have to rely on an income to survive, I'd be on my ranch and probably close my gate.

You know, I love cattle and I've been brought up in that side of things and I love the ranching side and I love spending time with my family. And, you know, that's important to me. God bless me with my success in the companies that I have and I own a ranch down in Orange Grove and I'm very proud of that and that's where I love spending my time so you know that that is that's a big part of of what I like okay you know I I was raised on a on a farm and ranch and and uh you know just it's just bred into me yeah and I think that that again is is a lot of people's commonality here in Texas. You know, farm and ranching is still alive here. And to me, people that are exposed to that lifestyle

have kind of a different outlook on life. And, you know, it's not conspiracy theory and all the things that you see today. You know, it's kind of a simple way of life. And that's the way that, you know, I like to be portrayed is I'm a pretty simple guy. And I understand business. And I think that Texas needs somebody that's common sense. Absolutely. One of the things we talked about when I first interviewed you was a little bit

about your background again, was that you were pretty heavily into rodeo. And you were for quite a while. You almost got a scholarship, or maybe you were awarded one but couldn't attend college. What was that like? Why'd you fall in love with rodeo? I didn't have a choice on that one. The house that I was born and raised in was on a ranch. And when you open the back door, you almost hit the corner post on the rodeo arena.

So I've got seven brothers and sisters I had one of my sisters has passed that all rodeoed and most of those were not rough stock riders you know they roped or they rode barrels poles that kind of thing but my dad was a big rancher and had bought a bunch of steers and put them on a ranch in Raymondville. I think I was 12, 13 years old. And, you know, I did a lot of roping back then. So he sends me to this ranch in Raymondville during the summer, and he says a lot of these steers have screw worms, and you and some other cowboys are going to spend the summer down there doctoring these screw worms so we don't lose these steers.

And the wrecks that I got in roping these steers on that ranch, when I was done that summer, I told my dad, I said, I never want to hold a roping rope in my hand again in my life. So, you know, I was the one that took the course of riding rough stock, bulls in, you know, particularly. And I enjoyed it today. Today, even at 58 years old, I crave getting on a bull. You know, and it just got into my blood, just like farming and ranching does most people.

Do you still do it? Some? Ride bulls? Yeah. Oh, no. No. No. You know, that's definitely a younger sport.

There was a lot of wrecks that I was involved in that, you know, I wake up every morning and think, man, it hurts. Yeah, yeah. What was the worst one? I remember waking up, I think I was 19 years old, in a hospital and being able to see my neck. I thought, what is going on? I mean, my neck was out here, and I had actually broken three vertebrates in my neck and hanging up to this pool that I was on.

And I laid there, and then they had me stretched. this pool that I was on and and I laid there and then they had me stretched you know I felt like I was on a medieval table you know they're they're pulling me each end and the doc walks in he goes you got three three broke vertebrates and and uh you you must have been exposed to the sun because you you've also got a sunstroke and I was in bad shape I was in the hospital for three weeks. So that was probably the worst because it just scared me so much. When that accident occurred on that bull, I was knocked out. So when I came to and seeing that, it shocked me.

But it didn't stop me. I got out of the hospital. I think a week later, I was riding bulls with a neck brace on. Got right back in the saddle. Yeah. And, you know, during my high school days, my dad fell on some financial hard times and I had been offered three different scholarships, full boats to go to three different colleges. And you know, I could see in the look in my mom and dad's face that they needed help.

And so, you know, I made the decision that I really need to go to work instead of going out and going to college and not have the ability to help them. Most of my brothers and sisters had moved away. I'm seven years younger than any of those. So I felt like I was obligated to help take care of my mom and dad, and I did, up until the day they died. So, you know, radio's just been a part of me. I love it very much,

and it'll always be a part of me. Yeah. And not being able to fulfill the scholarship, that kind of transitioned you into, you know, the energy industry. If I remember correctly, you know, when I first interviewed you, you mentioned that you went down to the company right down the road. Yeah, you know, the little house I was telling you about that I was born on the ranch, I think I was eight years old, woke up one morning and the house was on fire and it burned down. And my mom always wanted to live

on the other side of Ropstown than the ranch that I was born on because she liked farming more than she liked ranching. My dad liked ranching kind of more than he liked farming. So when the house burned, my mom got her wish that we bought another place over near Petronilla, Texas. And we bought this place, and it was a year later, they started doing a bunch of construction about a quarter mile south of us, and it was a hazardous waste landfill.

And so when I graduated high school and really only having experience in farming and ranching, which wasn't a great paying job and knowing where my mom and dad were, I thought, you know, I'm going to drive down there because the smells that have been emitted from here, I've had to smell most of my life. If anybody deserves a job there, it's me. So that's what I told the manager. And he said, you know, you're right, young man. He said, I will give you a job. And that's what started me in the energy industry. What was the first job? It was actually running a compactor in the landfill, hazardous waste landfill.

As they brought waste in, we would compact it down so that we made sure we had plenty of space in the landfill to continue to put waste in it. And when I left there, I was running their division worldwide called Special Services, where we went out and did remedial type projects for different companies that had environmental issues. And it was that customer base that one of them approached me and said, you know, Jim, we want a company that provides more of a turnkey service where you do the initial investigation, the analytical, the report, the cleanup, the closure report, you know, everything where we just make one call.

And that's not necessarily what the company I work for did. You know, we did one portion of that. So, you know, I saw that there was a need to do that. And that's when I started my first company. And, you know, as they say, the rest was history. Yes. And here you are getting ready to take the Railroad Commission seat in the statewide elected office. Jim, thanks for being here today. Anything else you'd like to say to our listeners?

You know, I would. You know, I very much appreciate the support. I hope that I can prove that I am good for Texas. And my ambition is to make sure that we uphold this livelihood that we have here. And I just I can't say thank you enough to those that supported me through this campaign. And I'm ready to go to work. Great. Thanks for being here, Jim.

Thank you, Brad. Thank you all so much for listening. If you've been enjoying our podcast, it would be awesome if you would review us on iTunes. And if there's a guest you'd love to hear on our show, give us a shout on Twitter. Tweet at The Texan News. provide real journalism in an age of disinformation. We're paid for exclusively by readers like you, so it's important we all do our part to support the Texan by subscribing and telling your friends about us. God bless you, and God bless Texas. you