One Democrat on the Oil Board. 3,246 Wells Still Waiting.

New man on the oil board. Same wells in the ground. The list does not care who won.

Plain English summary

The Texas Railroad Commission regulates oil wells, gas wells and pipelines. It has three commissioners. Come January, one of them will be a Democrat for the first time in about thirty years.

That is the headline everybody is running.

Here is the one nobody is running. The Commission's own cleanup report lists 3,246 wells the state has authorized to plug and has not plugged yet. Estimated cost: about $176.3 million. Seventy-five of those wells sit in Gregg, Harrison, Marion, Smith and Upshur counties.

Why it matters

If you live in East Texas, the oilfield is not a talking point. It is your pasture, your creek, your road.

An abandoned well with nobody responsible for it does not get better with time. It gets worse. The state has a fund and a program to plug them. The question is how fast, and who is watching.

A new face on the Commission is a fresh reason to ask.

The receipt

FACT. The Railroad Commission has three commissioners, elected statewide to six-year staggered terms, with one seat on the ballot every two years. The commissioners pick their own chairman. Source: RRC commissioners page and Natural Resources Code Sec. 81.01002.

FACT. The Commission's jurisdiction covers oil and gas wells in Texas, the people who drill and operate them, and common carrier pipelines. Source: Natural Resources Code Sec. 81.051.

FACT. The current commissioners are Christi Craddick (Chairman), Wayne Christian and Jim Wright. Wright has served since January 4, 2021. Source: RRC commissioner list.

FACT. The RRC report "State Well Pluggings Remaining by District," run September 16, 2026, data as of August 31, 2026, lists 3,246 wells remaining statewide with a total RRC estimate of about $176.3 million. Source: RRC Oil Field Cleanup report (PDF).

FACT. In that same report, by county: Gregg 34 wells, Harrison 27, Marion 7, Smith 5, Upshur 2. That is 75 wells across those five counties. Gregg's ten listed jobs carry a combined RRC estimate of about $1.21 million. One Harrison County job on the list was authorized in March 2011. Source: same report, county column, counted by hand.

DOCUMENTED INFERENCE. The Texas Tribune reports Democrat Jon Rosenthal defeated Republican Bo French and will join two Republicans on the three-member Commission, the first Democrat there in three decades. The Tribune reports Rosenthal has talked about a flaring ban, ramping up orphan well plugging, groundwater monitoring, and publishing commissioners' calendars. Source: Texas Tribune, Nov. 6, 2026.

DOCUMENTED INFERENCE. In that same story, an independent producers group pointed out that "Commission action requires a majority." Source: Texas Tribune.

DOCUMENTED INFERENCE. World Oil reported on Sept. 30, 2026 that the RRC plugged a record 2,022 orphaned wells in fiscal 2026. So the list moves. The question is how fast, and in which counties. Source: World Oil.

DOCUMENTED INFERENCE. Since Wright's term began in January 2021 and terms run six years, his is the seat that turns over in January. That is math from the RRC's own dates, not a statement on the page.

What Ryan says

RYAN STATEMENT. I do not care what letter is next to the name. I care about the list.

One vote out of three does not run the Commission. An industry group said it in the paper. It takes a majority. So the campaign talk about what one man will change is just that. Talk.

But here is what one commissioner can do. He can ask out loud. He can put the list on the table at every meeting. He can make the other two say yes or no on the record.

And the other two can do the same thing. Nothing stopped them before November.

Seventy-five wells in five East Texas counties. Thirty-four of them in Gregg alone. One job in Harrison County authorized in 2011 and still sitting on the list in 2026.

Fifteen years. That is not a pipeline problem. That is a follow-through problem.

I want three things. Publish the plugging list every month in plain English, by county. Put a date next to every job. And when a job sits for years, tell the people who live next to it why.

That is not left or right. That is the record.

What this does not prove

This does not prove any well on the list is leaking or dangerous. The report lists priority codes, not damage.

It does not prove the Commission is ignoring the list. Wells get plugged and new ones get added. This is one snapshot, August 31, 2026.

It does not prove what Rosenthal will do. Campaign positions come from news reports, not votes.

It does not prove the dollar figures are final. They are the RRC's own estimates.

What it does prove

The state's own paperwork says 3,246 wells are authorized for plugging and not done.

East Texas has 75 of them in just five counties.

At least one has waited since 2011.

And the Commission still runs on two out of three votes, no matter who sits in the third chair.

The bottom line

New man. Same wells. Same rule: majority wins.

So watch the majority. Watch the list. Watch the dates.

The record does not lie. Show me the plugging schedule.

Do not threaten anyone. Do not harass anyone. Do not contact anyone in my name. Read it. Share it. Send receipts, evidence, witnesses. Put eyes on the record.