For the RRC

Mark Miller is clearly the most qualified to serve on the Railroad Commission of Texas.

One of the most confusing quirks of Texas government — and that’s saying a lot — is that the Railroad Commission of Texas no longer has anything to do with railroads. Still, it’s arguably one of the most important regulatory bodies in the entire nation because it oversees the Lone Star State’s oil and gas industry.

Another oddity of our state government decrees that the three commissioners in charge of the RRC aren’t appointed, they’re elected. So it’s up to us voters to choose the people running this powerful agency. And let’s face it, most of us don’t know enough about the candidates or the complexities facing regulators of the energy industry.

But this year, we voters are lucky. One plainspoken petrochemical engineer who decided to run for this office clearly understands everything we need a railroad commissioner to know about doing this job right.

Our editorial board interviews scores of candidates for political office every election year, but seldom do we find ourselves wholeheartedly endorsing a nominee from the Libertarian Party. Then again, seldom have we met a Libertarian candidate like Mark Miller.

Ask this man anything at all about the Railroad Commission and he’ll give you a straight, smart answer informed not only by decades of working in the industry and teaching petrochemical engineering at the University of Texas, but also by a mastery of the issues facing the energy business and the state body that regulates it. He’s an affable retired oil and gas man with a doctorate from Stanford University who’s so interested in this agency he literally wrote a book on the railroad commission.

With impressive clarity and authority, Miller offers well-informed opinions on a litany of arcane issues involving the energy industry: why the Texas Legislature needs to resolve the conflict between the owners of surface rights and mineral rights, why the state should dramatically reduce the number of permits for flaring natural gas, why Texas needs to figure out how to plug oil wells left unplugged by companies that go bankrupt. This guy clearly knows what he’s talking about.

By comparison, none of the other candidates for this office have actually worked in the industry they propose to help oversee. Wayne Christian, the Republican nominee, earned a troublesome reputation as a combative bombthrower in the state Legislature; he helped craft a shamefully selfserving amendment exempting his own Bolivar Peninsula home from the Texas Open Beaches Act, and Texas Monthly twice rated him one of the state’s worst lawmakers. Grady Yarbrough, the Democratic nominee, is a retired school teacher whose background seems better suited to an education post. Martina Salinas, the Green Party nominee, is an earnest construction inspector from the Fort Worth area who, again, never worked in the energy business.

One of the strangely polarizing arguments about this agency is a recurring debate over whether its name should be changed to reflect what it really does. Calling this powerful regulatory body a railroad commission obscures its true purpose and serves only to cloak its influence. Miller is among those who believe the commission is way overdue for a name change, arguing “you can’t have a democratically elected position when only 5 percent of the voters know what they’re voting for.”

If you’re one of those voters who’s unhappy with your choice of presidential candidates in 2016, another good reason to split your ticket is Mark Miller, the Libertarian who’s unquestionably this year’s most qualified candidate for Railroad Commission of Texas commissioner. He deserves the job, and yes, this commission deserves a new name.