{"id":3871,"date":"2023-09-06T09:00:05","date_gmt":"2023-09-06T16:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xenetwork.org\/ets\/?post_type=xen_episodes&p=3871"},"modified":"2023-09-10T13:45:29","modified_gmt":"2023-09-10T20:45:29","slug":"episode-206-regulatory-capture-in-texas","status":"publish","type":"xen_episodes","link":"https:\/\/xenetwork.org\/ets\/episodes\/episode-206-regulatory-capture-in-texas\/","title":{"rendered":"[Episode #206] \u2013 Regulatory Capture in Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we have discussed in previous episodes of the show (like Episodes #73<\/a>, #177<\/a>, and #198<\/a>), state regulators and legislators can be \u2018captured\u2019 by the industries they are supposed to regulate and wind up serving those industries instead of the public interest.<\/p>\n

Usually, regulatory capture is a form of corruption: The system isn\u2019t supposed to work that way, but certain interests can manage to corrupt it. In Texas, however, that kind of capture isn\u2019t a bug\u2014it\u2019s a feature.<\/p>\n

In this episode, investigative journalist Russell Gold of\u00a0Texas Monthly<\/em><\/span><\/a>\u00a0shares what he found after tracking down hundreds of documents scattered across dozens of offices around the state. Not only does the chair of the Texas commission that regulates the oil and gas business personally earn royalties from some of the very oil and gas leases she regulates, so does her family.<\/p>\n

We also check in on the progress that Texas is making\u2014and not making\u2014to prevent the kind of grid blackout that happened during the February 2021 big freeze. And we ask where the limits to corruption in Texas actually are, and how rank and file voters in the state feel about it. It\u2019s a sordid story, but an important one to understand, because it reveals a lot about the power of the oil and gas industry in the US.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Regulatory capture is rife in Texas, and it explains a lot about how the losers of the energy transition have rigged the state\u2019s systems in their favor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[111],"tags":[485,761,261,1132,223,483,26,900],"class_list":["post-3871","xen_episodes","type-xen_episodes","status-publish","hentry","category-energy-transition-show-podcasts","tag-capture","tag-corruption","tag-gas","tag-legislation","tag-oil","tag-regulatory","tag-renewables","tag-texas","xen_guests-russell-gold"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n[Episode #206] \u2013 Regulatory Capture in Texas | The Energy Transition Show<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Regulatory capture is rife in Texas, and it explains a lot about how the losers of the energy transition have rigged the state\u2019s systems in their favor.\" \/>\n<meta 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