States start their own DOGE efforts, ensnaring oil and gas regulatorsEnergy WireMedia Coverage

Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota. Credit: Matthew Brown/AP

From the article:

(Commission Shift’s Virginia) Palacios said the Texas Legislature will likely grant the Railroad Commission’s funding request because the scale of the problem has grown. But other cuts that a Texas DOGE department could enact, like cutting the number of inspectors, could make the problem worse, she said.

She said the Railroad Commission has about 185 inspectors for the oil and gas team, each of whom are responsible for more than 1,000 wells.

“We’re already seeing well blowouts, earthquakes and water contamination,” Palacios said. “If you’re not adding inspectors and investigators, you are going to have more of them.”

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