By State Rep. Brooks Landgraf
You might recall that in 2021 I was honored to be appointed by Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) to serve as chairman of the House Environmental Regulation Committee. In addition to having oversight over the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), the committee has jurisdiction over all matters pertaining to waste disposal and pollution, including environmental regulation of industrial development.
A vitally important bill I was proud to pass out of the committee and get signed into law was House Bill 4472. I filed HB 4472 during the 2021 regular session to reform the Texas Emissions Reduction Program (TERP) to allow industry and innovation to flourish without the threat of shutdown from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Clean Air Activism.
With the passage of HB 4472, operators can now obtain grants for oil and gas technologies that reduce flaring and site emissions. It also ensures the Permian Basin has a chance to benefit from the federally required program. In other words, this is a policy that allows Texas to balance our environment and our economy in a way that’s beneficial to both.
As chairman, I have also been on the front lines protecting the interests of the Permian Basin by standing in the way of radical policies like those peddled in Washington, D.C. and by the Biden Administration. These types of policies were ones favored by out-of-touch big-city politicians who are attempting to phase out oil and gas production in the name of the environment.
Under my watch, radical environmental bills referred to my committee at the Texas Capitol were stopped in their tracks. However, the fight doesn’t end there. Now, the federal EPA has started a process that could impose unnecessary restrictions on oil and gas production specifically in the Permian Basin for decades.
I have four simple words to say: Don’t Mess With Texas. We can handle our own business and we handle it well.
I’ve joined forces with Congressman August Plfuger to fight back against this overreach from the Biden administration that would destroy Permian Basin jobs and further hike fuel prices if left unchecked. Governor Greg Abbott is already engaged in the fight as well and I very much appreciate him fighting for us here in the Permian Basin. The governor, Congressman Pfluger and I have been in constant communication. We are on the same page and are fiercely committed together to doing all that is possible to protect Texas oil and gas.
In the upcoming legislative session I will again file and work to pass the Texas Energy Independence Act – legislation that prohibits state resources and personnel from being used to implement any new federal oil and gas regulations. I’m exploring all available options to defend the Permian Basin from the tyrannical EPA – working to pass the Texas Energy Independence Act and killing attempts to pass Green New Deal-like legislation in Texas is just the start.
Like vegetables on the plate of a toddler, fossil fuels are being pushed to the side by those who cannot or simply refuse to understand the fact that they are healthy and necessary for sustaining life. Like the rest of West Texas, I’ll continue to fight for what’s best for America even if some Americans don’t know what is best for themselves.
There is no doubt our way of life is under attack and it is more important now than ever before to fight back. You have my word that I will continue to fight relentlessly to protect the livelihood of the hardest working men and women on the face of the earth — those who reside in the Permian Basin. The ability to achieve energy independence is a living, breathing reality thanks to your hard work. What we do here is important, something that positively impacts lives across the globe and brings prosperity to our state and nation. We must keep it that way.
God bless Texas!
