Senate Concurrent Resolution 26

AUSTIN – The Texas House of Representatives passed a resolution today urging the federal government to work with Texas in unraveling the overreaching regulations that have been implemented over the past eight years, which were largely aimed at negatively impacting the oil and gas industry.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 26, authored by Senate Natural Resources Chairman Craig Estes and sponsored by House Energy Resources Chairman Drew Darby, has also been approved by the Senate and will now head to the Governor’s desk for signature.

“The Texas Alliance of Energy Producers applauds the passage of Senate Concurrent Resolution 26, which sends a strong message to the federal government and the new presidential administration. Now is the time to work together to reverse some of the harmful regulations that have stunted the growth of our industry for far too long,” said Alliance Chairman Bob Osborne. “We would like to express our sincerest gratitude and appreciation to the authors of this resolution, Chairman Estes and Darby, for their stanch leadership on this important issue.”

Specifically, SCR 26:

• recognizes the opportunity to “transcend partisan politics and correct misuses of federal regulatory power that have threatened the Texas oil and gas industry, the jobs it creates, and the economy of Texas”;

• strongly urges Congress and the new administration to closely review onerous regulations in order to determine whether these rules should be revised, repealed or alternatively, delegated back to the states to implement and enforce;

• acknowledges the incredible economic security and prosperity that Texas oilfields have afforded the state and the country as a whole, as well as the safe and reliable manner in which industry operates and produces this crucial resource;

• references the more than 20 lawsuits that Texas has filed in conjunction with many other oil and gas producing states against federal overregulation that prioritizes minor environmental gains over major productive losses.

SCR 26 is a critical component in a larger overall effort to seek delegation over energy regulations from the federal government and return power to the hands of the state, an initiative spearheaded by the Alliance in conjunction with other oil and gas industry associations through the Federal Regulatory Energy Delegation (FRED) committee.  The full text of the resolution is available online here.