Oil and gas emissions surged as winter storm blasted TexasEnergy WireMedia Coverage | Feb 02, 2026

Watchdog groups say officials in the Lone Star State haven’t done enough to prevent emissions events from spiking during harsh weather.

By Shelby Webb and Carlos Anchondo
February 2nd, 2026

The Railroad Commission of Texas, which regulates the state’s oil and gas industry, created a new rule that required critical natural gas facilities to weatherize. Critical natural gas facilities include infrastructure that provides electricity generators and homes with natural gas.

While the original proposed weatherization rule included specific changes operators would need to make to comply, the final rule did not include any specific actions for natural gas operators, said Virginia Palacios, executive director of the Commission Shift nonprofit watchdog group.

Specific actions, instead, were put into a guidance document. An investigation by POLITICO’S E&E News after Uri found that the Railroad Commission rarely issued violations for its weatherization rule other than for paperwork issues — and that inspectors rarely went into the field to verify operator-submitted reports.

“As it turns out now, the Railroad Commission isn’t really enforcing any kind of weatherization standard,” Palacios said. “There’s no bare minimum operators have to do for weatherization to be effective.”