Commission Shift

06/03/2026

Yesterday, Commission Shift’s Virginia Palacios spoke to the Railroad Commission about the overflow of a sinkhole near Kelton Ranch in Upton County — and how they took insufficient action to protect the surrounding environment from being coated in oil and produced water.

06/02/2026

6/2 RRC open meeting debrief -- Alexander Spike from Air Alliance Houston and Carolina Bustos from Raices Collaborative join Julie Range and Virginia Palacios from Commission Shift.

05/30/2026

The next Open Meeting of the Railroad Commission, our state oil and gas agency, is Tuesday, June 2nd at 9:30 AM CST.

Commission Shift will be following agenda items including:

Item 10: Apparently even an oil and gas company doesn't know what the Railroad Commission does. Company officers Carrell and Nerren sold their business, including an oil and gas separating facility, to three people named Delgado, Griffin, and Scirone. Griffin testified that he and his business partners “did not know what the Commission was when they purchased Strada, stating he thought a railroad went through the property.”

Item 49: Due to noncompliance, operator Trivesta will lose its authority to operate in Texas. Sixty-nine of its inactive wells will be added to the orphaned well list.
There are five flaring rule exception requests on the agenda.

Item 343: Commissioners will vote to approve the Fiscal Year 2027 Oil and Gas Monitoring and Enforcement Plan.

Read more agenda highlights and register to give public comments at the open meeting: https://commissionshift.org/news/june-2nd-railroad-commission-open-meeting/

05/29/2026

Recent heavy rains in Upton County, Texas have caused a 200 foot wide sinkhole to overflow, creating an oil slick now coating the surrounding land. The sinkhole was formed in 1977 from a collapsed, poorly plugged oil and gas well. For decades, locals have filed complaints and requests to the Railroad Commission, our state oil and gas agency, to stabilize the area, but no significant action has been taken.

Read more: https://commissionshift.org/news/kelton-ranch-sinkhole-floods-causing-mile-long-oil-slick/

05/29/2026

Giving public input is one of the most fundamental parts of making a difference in your community. But it can be an intimidating process, especially when state agencies give you very limited and very short options to do so. Here are some of our tips to making the most out of these critical opportunities.

05/22/2026

Oil and gas venting and flaring has critical impacts on our health and on our environment. Learn more at TexasFlaringProject.org.

05/20/2026

Campaign contributions at the Railroad Commission, our state oil and gas agency, can happen any time — and influence the decisions made by commissioners.

05/20/2026

Business Explains the World visited the Permian Basin, a massive oil-producing region in Texas and New Mexico, to investigate why energy companies burn hundreds of millions of dollars worth of fuel every single year.

Watch here:

Why are energy companies burning hundreds of millions of dollars worth of fuel every single year?In this episode of Business Explains the World, our CEO Nich...

05/16/2026

Early voting in the primary runoff election starts next week! Make a plan to vote today.

05/15/2026

The texts venting and flaring don't want you to see 👀