PolitiFact s ruling: Half True
Here s why: Wayne Christian is fed up with environmentalists and what he described as the “woke” liberal policies threatening to disrupt the smooth recovery of Texas’ energy sector from pandemic blows.
The Republican oil and gas regulator, one of three commissioners of the Texas Railroad Commission, penned a missive earlier this month that took aim at those who ve recently cast Texas natural gas in a bad light the French government for cutting ties with a Houston company over environmental concerns, the “sensationalist fake-news media” for downplaying improvements in emissions, and the “environmental extremists” for promoting Green New Deal policies.
Texas railroad commissioner vents at France
Liam Denning, Bloomberg
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Flaring on a site near Orla, Texas.Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
Wayne Christian, one of three Texas Railroad Commissioners, seems to have just about had it with the French. And the Russians. And the Iranians.
His latest missive “An Assault from All Fronts on Energy Independence” wasn’t published in all-caps; but it reads like the original draft was hammered out with the caps-lock on.
A little backstory: Texas has a problem with flaring and venting of natural gas, whereby unwanted gas (mainly from oil wells) is burned off or just released into the air. As shale oil production boomed in the Permian Basin, so did flaring and venting; in recent years, more Texan gas has gone up into the heavens than been used in the state’s homes.
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Spies, Journalists and the Literature of Witness
January 12, 2021
The Newsletter
by Clarissa Ward / Penguin Press
Reviewed by Marc Polymeropoulos
Cipher Brief Expert Marc Polymeropoulos served 26 years in the CIA before retiring from the Senior Intelligence Service in June 2019. His positions included field and headquarters operational assignments covering the Middle East, Europe, Eurasia and CounterTerrorism.
REVIEW Reading Clarissa Ward’s
RRC commissioner vents at France, fake news and the woke [Opinion]
Liam Denning, Bloomberg
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GARDEN CITY, TX - FEBRUARY 05: Flared natural gas is burned off at Apache Corporations operations at the Deadwood natural gas plant in the Permian Basin on February 5, 2015 in Garden City, Texas.Spencer Platt, Staff / Getty Images
Wayne Christian, one of three Texas Railroad Commissioners, seems to have just about had it with the French. And the Russians. And the Iranians. The “sensationalist, fake news media” and “environmental extremists” are off his Christmas list, too. He also has precious little time for the whole Environmental, Social and Governance, or ESG, investing thing or, as he puts it, “the new ‘woke’ way to save money.”