News

Wayne Christian's Press Room

News Items - 2025

• Christian Cheers President Trump and Congressman Pfluger’s Repeal of Biden Natural Gas Tax

  March 17, 2025
  

  AUSTIN – This week President Donald Trump signed the Congressional Review Act (CRA) repeal of the Biden administration’s natural gas tax. This legislative action nullifies the methane fee imposed by the Biden administration on oil and natural gas production, which would have driven up costs to producers and American consumers.

  “President Trump’s overturning of Biden’s natural gas tax is one of the many actions his administration has taken to set America back on course toward American Energy Dominance,” said Commissioner Wayne Christian. “During his first term, President Trump led a reliable energy resurgence which gave us energy independence and a roaring economy—and he’s teeing up to do it again. This tax would have been the death knell for small ‘mom and pop’ operators, who produce more than 83% of America’s oil and gas. I want to congratulate the President, Senator John Hoeven, and Congressman August Pfluger on this monumental achievement which defends independent producers—the backbone of American oil and gas.”

  For Texas, this legislation is vital. As the nation's largest producer of oil and gas, Texas is the source for America’s reliable energy. If the Lone Star State were its own country, Texas would be the world's third largest producer of gas and fourth largest producer of oil. The industry is vital to the state’s economic success bringing in billions of dollars to benefit the State and supports about 38% of the overall economy. Texas also represents about one-third of the nation’s LNG exports. With growing global demand for LNG, Texas catapulted America to be the world's top LNG exporter.

  Christian continued, “Last year, Biden’s own EPA said the quiet part out loud that the industry is already mitigating methane emissions, revealing that the true motive behind the tax all along was to squeeze the life out of the oil and gas industry. Radical environmentalists love to pick and choose ‘science’ that justifies their ‘sky is falling’ narrative, which is that the world is ending and fossil fuels are to blame. But this couldn’t be further from the truth, just like they like to ignore the fact that EPA regulated emissions are down 78% in the last fifty years.”

  In 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that methane emissions from the largest oil and natural gas-producing basins fell 44% between 2011-2013; and also dropped in seven oil and natural gas-producing basins by up to 87% from 2019-2023.

  A lifelong conservative businessman, Wayne Christian was elected as our 50th Texas Railroad Commissioner in November 2016. Prior to his time at the Commission, Christian served seven sessions in the Texas House of Representatives, accumulating a strong record of standing for free markets and against burdensome regulations. Christian is married to his wife, Lisa, and together they have three daughters, Liza, Lindsey and Lauren. You can learn more about Chairman Christian here.

• Christian Applauds EPA Administrator Zeldin’s Red Tape Rollback and Reconsideration of Obama-era Greenhouse Gas Ruling

  March 13, 2025
  

  AUSTIN – This week Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced his agency will take 31 actions to roll back onerous Biden and Obama era regulations.

  Included in these actions will be a reconsideration of the 2009 ill-named 'endangerment finding', which made greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, pollutants subject to agency regulation.

  This finding provided the legal framework to regulate CO2 and enabled the Net Zero movement to gain traction both in the United States and worldwide. Following EPA Administrator Zeldin’s actions, Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian said the following:

  “President Trump promised Americans he’d scrap Net Zero, the Green New Deal and other radical environmental policies that stifle American fossil fuel production and inhibit his mission to re-establish American Energy Dominance. The Net Zero agenda is a fantasy built on a house of cards, and EPA Administrator Zeldin’s reconsideration of the ‘endangerment finding’ will knock it down. Because America reduced EPA’s six major regulated pollutants by 78% over the last half century, the Left had to invent CO2 as a pollutant – creating a boogeyman – to justify their continued war on fossil fuels. I applaud President Trump and EPA Administrator Zeldin in their effort to challenge climate catastrophists and put America’s reliable energy producers first.”

  A lifelong conservative businessman, Wayne Christian was elected as our 50th Texas Railroad Commissioner in November 2016. Prior to his time at the Commission, Christian served seven sessions in the Texas House of Representatives, accumulating a strong record of standing for free markets and against burdensome regulations. Christian is married to his wife, Lisa, and together they have three daughters, Liza, Lindsey and Lauren. You can learn more about Chairman Christian here.

• Railroad Commissioner Christian: “President Trump will Restore America to an Energy Dominant Nation”

  January 21, 2025
  

  AUSTIN – Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian released the following statement today on President Donald Trump’s Executive Orders supporting reliable energy production in America:

  “On day one, President Trump prioritized actions to undo some of the harmful, radical policies from the last administration and set America on a course toward energy independence. His executive orders will grow U.S. fossil fuel production by incentivizing new investments and unleashing new areas of production, which will lead to more energy, cheaper costs and a more secure nation.

  “The last year has seen the turning of the tide against ‘woke’ energy agendas and unrealistic environmental policies in America and across the globe. Radical, anti-energy policies like ESG are finally being revealed to be the scam that they are, from major U.S. investment banks withdrawing from global ‘climate’ organizations to a federal judge ruling that ESG is a violation of fiduciary responsibility. They don’t work, they’re based on fantasy ideals and leave hard working Americans worse off. President Trump withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accords and other globalist cohorts will only further fuel the fire to the domestic reliable energy renaissance that the Americans will benefit from.

  “As Commissioner of the largest oil and gas producing state in the nation, I look forward to President Trump’s leadership and having an ally in the White House. Energy is the catalyst to a better everything in our lives and the economy, and having access to cheap, clean and reliable sources is paramount to human flourishing. To my fellow Texans, I hope you’re ready to ‘drill, baby, drill’ and reap the benefits that increased production will do for the State and your individual lives.”

  Background: In 2019, the U.S. became a net exporter of energy for the first time in 67 years, surpassing Saudi Arabia and Russia to become the largest producer of oil and gas in the world. This gave the nation affordable energy, thousands of new jobs, economic growth and national security. America achieved this by simply empowering, instead of attacking, domestic oil and gas producers.

  A lifelong conservative businessman, Wayne Christian was elected as our 50th Texas Railroad Commissioner in November 2016. Prior to his time at the Commission, Christian served seven sessions in the Texas House of Representatives, accumulating a strong record of standing for free markets and against burdensome regulations. Christian is married to his wife, Lisa, and together they have three daughters, Liza, Lindsey and Lauren. You can learn more about Chairman Christian here.

• Christian Calls on TCEQ to Stop Biden’s Methane Rule Roll Out in Texas

  January 14, 2025
  

  AUSTIN – This week the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) is accepting final comments on pending rulemaking (Rule Project Number 2024-027-113-AI) to establish new methane requirements for oil and natural gas operations in Texas.

  This state rule implementation is required by federal law under the Biden administration and imposes undue burdens on U.S. oil and gas operators, especially small producers who lack the resources of multinational corporations. These rules are part of a larger agenda that threatens not only the state’s energy independence but also the livelihood of numerous Texans who rely on this industry.

  As a state leader overseeing the oil and gas industry, Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian sent a letter to the TCEQ commissioners with concerns and a request to halt implementation of the Biden rule.

  “The Biden administration has taken over 250 actions to end oil and gas production, and this new methane rule is one of the many aimed at stifling large producing states like Texas,” said Commissioner Wayne Christian. “The real victim of President Biden’s methane rule won’t be ‘Big Oil’ – which is why many of them haven’t opposed this rule – it will be the small and independent producers. EPA’s stringent methane regulations impose significant compliance costs and operational burdens that many smaller producers will find insurmountable, while doing little to reduce emissions. Simply put: this rule will shut down tens of thousands of Texas wells, folks.”

  “Elections have consequences, and the American people decided that the Biden administration’s energy and environmental agenda aren’t in their best interest,” Commissioner Christian continued. “President-elect Donald Trump once rescinded this Obama-era rule and Biden revived it. The fate of these punitive rules on producers is far from over; and as such, I would advise caution and patience in any state administration of this federal overreach. Relief from Washington bureaucrats in the DC swamp is on the way; let’s wait for the cavalry to arrive before surrendering.”

  You can read the letter here.

  Background:

  Since 2021, Commissioner Wayne Christian has been a vocal opponent against President Biden’s EPA methane rule. In 2023, when EPA finalized their rule, Commissioner Christian continued to warn of the dangers the rule would have to independent producers and America’s energy security. In 2024, Christian highlighted an EPA report that demonstrated that methane emissions had plummeted in the nation’s highest producing regions, revealing that the true motive behind Biden’s policies was to end the oil and gas industry. Additionally in 2024, the three Texas Railroad Commissioners voted to instruct the Texas Attorney General’s office to challenge the rule in court.

  A lifelong conservative businessman, Wayne Christian was elected as our 50th Texas Railroad Commissioner in November 2016. Prior to his time at the Commission, Christian served seven sessions in the Texas House of Representatives, accumulating a strong record of standing for free markets and against burdensome regulations. Christian is married to his wife, Lisa, and together they have three daughters, Liza, Lindsey and Lauren. You can learn more about Chairman Christian here.