RRC Commissioner Christian op-ed: No Coal for Radical Environmentalists this Christmas

By Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian

Christmas came early for radical environmentalists at the end of the United Nations’ climate conference (COP 28). These anti-humanists got their wish of a UN pledge to end fossil fuels.

More than 190 governments feverously approved an agreement telling the world and global economy to start limiting use of coal, oil, and natural gas. This will certainly have an impact for producers who will see more bureaucratic red tape and increasing limits to an already drought-ridden financial capital market. 

I’d love to put some coal in their stockings this Christmas. This pledge isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on—it denies reality.

It denies the fact fossil fuels power 80% of world energy. Are we going to replace that with wind and solar power? The U.S. has spent more than $15 billion on unreliable energy subsidies for them to supply only about 20% of power. Texans know best how much electric grids can count on wind and solar when they’re needed the most. 

Natural gas makes fertilizers that help feed about 4 billion people. Will organic farming feed the world? It can barely feed half the global population at best.

Petroleum helps make 96% of everyday items like plastics, medicine, tech products, and much more. How will society function without modern technology? It won’t and people will die young, cold, and hungry.

Mark my words, this pledge won’t be the end of fossil fuels, but it will make our world more expensive, power less reliable, and nations less secure—especially America. Our nation is rich with fossil fuels that could easily provide our country with energy independence, a robust economy, and national security for decades to come.

President Joe Biden didn’t waste any time with this pledge and had his EPA roll out onerous new rules on oil and gas producers. These new rules will have a disproportionate impact on smaller producers, which make up more than 83% of U.S. production. At a time when producers are facing financial drought from Wall Street and political headwinds from Washington Democrats, that last thing the industry needs is more bureaucratic red tape stifling business.

Battling the ‘Chicken Little’ catastrophists – who want to send humanity back to the Stone Age – is a fight where commonsense needs to win. The war for a fossil future is here, and it’s being fought from Texas to the Middle East. 

While Biden and the UN presume the science of a climate crisis is settled, let us not forget that climate chicken-littles have been saying the sky is falling for 50 years. The UN climate models are constantly being “updated” or modified, and their wildly irresponsible climate predictions – like Fifty Million Climate Refugees by the Year 2020 – have not happened.

Or perhaps the myth that all scientists agree on climate change. Spoiler alert! Not all scientists agree, despite what you may hear at the UN or on the news. I bet you didn’t hear about Nobel Prize winning physicist, John Clauser, joining the 1,600 other scientists who have an open 2019 declaration against the climate “emergency” myth. That doesn’t sound like settled science to me.

America, despite mainstream reporting, leads the world in the production of clean, affordable, plentiful, and reliable energy. The U.S. is a global leader in reducing emissions, not through regulation, but technological innovation. EPA regulated emissions are down 78% in the last half century, while the economy boomed by 286%, population increased by 61%, and energy use is up by 37%.  

There’s good news out there, my friends. Fossil fuels are saving mankind, and we need to preach its gospel.

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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.