Christian Appointed Chairman of Railroad Commission of Texas

June 18, 2019 - During the June 18, 2019 opening meeting of the Railroad Commission of Texas, Commissioner Christi Craddick stepped down as chairman and nominated Commissioner Wayne Christian for the position. The motion carried for agenda item 376 (Election of the Chairman of the Railroad Commission) and Shelby County's own Wayne Christian was appointed Chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission.

Wayne Christian became the highest ranking elected official from Shelby County when he was elected as the 50th Texas Railroad Commissioner in November of 2016.

A statement from Wayne Christian concerning his appointment:

"Today, I was honored to be unanimously elected to lead our agency as Chairman of the Railroad Commission of Texas.

It is a privilege to serve on the Railroad Commission during this historic period of growth for our state’s oil and gas industry. Largely because of Texas, America is the largest producer of oil and gas in the world, giving us not only energy security, but national security as well.

During this period of unprecedented growth, we have also made great environmental gains. From 1970 to 2017, the six major pollutants monitored by the EPA decreased by 73%, while the U.S. economy grew 262% and its population by 60%.

As our energy sector has grown, the Railroad Commission of Texas has been there every step of the way to make sure production was done in a way that is safe and fair, preventing the waste of our resources and protecting the correlative rights of thousands of Texans.

As Chairman, I look forward to continuing to ensure our agency provides a consistent, predictable regulatory environment that allows businesses to thrive while protecting the public from bad actors."