It is always good to end the week on a positive note and Texas is helping us do just that. The Texas oil and gas industry added 2,800 jobs in the month of August, this is the fourth straight month of job growth in the sector.  The Houston Chronicle discusses the positive trend in Texas: The state’s upstream sector has recovered 19,700 jobs since employment bottomed out a year ago, about a third of the 60,000 jobs lost during the pandemic last year. The state has 178,500 drilling and extraction workers, according to data from the Texas Workforce Commission and…

The Texas Oil & Gas Association (TXOGA) recently held its Texas Energy Day 2021, and spoke to policymakers like Texas Governor Greg Abbott about the future of energy in the state. Not surprisingly, Governor Abbott was critical of the Biden Administration’s preferences for Green New Deal policies over more affordable and more established fossil fuels like natural gas. An industry that has not only provided millions of American energy jobs and billions in revenue but has also reduced carbon dioxide emissions 23 percent since 1990 through innovation and technology, The News of San Patricio reported. “It is the equivalent of…

After 5 days of no heat and power in the state of Texas, the power is slowly starting to come back on. But Texas is not out of the woods yet. As of Friday morning, over 195,000 homes across the state still did not have power. And with more winter weather on the way, the state needs to be prepared to not lose power again. Lina Hidalgo, the top elected official in Harris County, which encompasses Houston, discussed the progress being made to restore power throughout the state. “The grid is still fragile,” she said, noting that cold weather would…

There are a lot of different explanations in the news about how Texas – America’s most energy-rich state – is currently without power and heat. Some are claiming that this is an isolated incident, caused by a once-in-a-century storm. Texas Governor Greg Abbott believes that private power companies are to blame. But, both of these lines of reasoning ignore an undeniable reality: government regulates private companies, and this crisis is the result of an insistent political agenda. The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board writes:  The problem is Texas’s overreliance on wind power that has left the grid more vulnerable to bad weather….

Unfortunately, just a few weeks into President Biden’s administration, we are already seeing the negative side effects of an anti-energy agenda. The eco-left doesn’t like to focus on the immediate, real-world impact of their lofty policies. But, regardless of their focus, hard workers around this country had their livelihood swept out from under them when Biden announced an executive order canceling the Keystone XL Pipeline. The Dickerson family is just one of thousands who are dealing with the consequences of Biden’s executive order. The Dickerson’s discussed these consequences with Fox News:   “We’ve had to actually dip into our retirement and…

The Houston Chronicle reports: Nearly 60,000 oil drilling, production and services workers have lost their jobs between February and August, 20 percent higher than the 50,000 layoffs previously reported, according to a new report from the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers. The new job analysis from the statewide trade group comes after the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas revised its employment data, which showed that more jobs were cut in the oil-field services sector than previously thought. “The revised employment estimates clearly suggest that COVID-19 has cut into the upstream oil and gas sector to a deeper extent than previously…

Race: Texas’ 11th Congressional District Key Cities: Andrews, Midland, Odessa, San Angelo, Granbury, and Brownwood Matchup: Republican August Pfluger vs. Democrat Jon Mark Hogg The Race: Texas’ 11th district is located in the west-central portion of the state and includes Andrews, Midland, Odessa, San Angelo, Granbury, and Brownwood. The current Congressman is Representative Mike Conaway (R), who was first elected in 2004 and is not running for reelection. Republican candidate August Pfluger is running against Jon Mark Hogg (D). Polls: The Cook Political Report has ranked the district at R+32 so it’s seen as solid Republican. This makes Texas’ 11th congressional district…

Race: Texas 19th Congressional District Key Cities: Lubbock and Abilene Matchup: Republican/Incumbent Jodey Arrington vs. Democrat Tom Watson The Race: Texas’ 19th district covers the western portion of the state and includes Lubbock and Abilene. The incumbent is Representative Jodey Arrington (R), who was first elected in 2016 and is running against Tom Watson (D). Rep. Arrington voted no to both H.R. 205 which extends the ban of offshore drilling in the U.S. and H.R. 1146 which banned the exploration of oil fields in Alaska. It’s clear that Rep. Arrington has his constituents in energy-heavy Texas at the front of his…