Wayne's World: Energizing Texas

This week’s episode features the Honorable Todd Staples. Todd is the President of the Texas Oil and Gas Association –or TXOGA– which advocates in Austin on behalf of the oil and gas industry.

Dr. Rectenwald is an author, speaker, and was a professor at NYU, Duke and other universities. Much like Dr. Jordan Peterson, he was persecuted for his beliefs about political correctness and social justice ideologies.

In this interview, we talk about the radical environmentalists’ goal of making carbon a commodity; global elites hidden agenda of depopulation; the United Nation’s globalist agenda and the World Economic Forum’s Great Reset; the long history of climate catastrophism; ESG and the rise of “stakeholder” capitalism; and more.

This episode is about President Biden’s methane rule and tax, and how it impact American oil & gas production. It’s also about how the radical environmental movement has gained too much power and control over our energy policies. 

Karr Ingham is an Executive Vice President and Economist with the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers. They represent many of the Texas producers that will be impacted by Biden’s onerous rules.

In this interview, we talk about Texas’ role as the nation’s top

producer; the impact Biden’s methane rule and tax will have on

small to mid-size producers; the dangers of slowing US oil and

gas exploration; How American production is far more clean than

other nations; How ESG is impacting production; Karr’s Petro

Index; & how average Americans should be thinking about

economy.

Maynard has been actively engaged in education as a parent, teacher, school board trustee and non-profit executive for more than 30 years. Maynard worked in career and technical education for 13 years as an agricultural science teacher and earned national recognition for innovative programs and student achievement. He served for 17 years as executive director of the Texas FFA Association, the nation's largest state career and technical student organization with an overall membership of more than 118,000 students on more than 1,000 Texas campuses. Maynard retired from this post in January 2017.

Author of "Climate Scam"

This week’s guest is Congressman Chip Roy. Congressman Roy represents the 21st district of Texas, which includes South Austin, North San Antonio, and the famed Texas Hill Country.

Rep. Michael Burgess is a physician and congressman who represents the 26th congressional district of Texas.

Alex Epstein is an author and philosopher who argues that “human flourishing” should be the guiding principle of industrial and environmental progress.

Steven H. Pruett is the Chairman of IPAA. He's also President and Chief Executive Officer of Elevation Resources LLC, a Permian Basin focused exploration and production company which he co-founded in 2013. 

This week’s episode features part of the leadership team from the Texas Panhandle Producers and Royalty Owner’s Association, or PPROA. From PPROA, we have President Judy Stark and Board Chairman Richard Beyea.

In this episode, we discuss the legacy and current production going on in the Texas panhandle; President Biden's anti-oil and gas policies that are harming production and driving up inflation; the threat of the Green New Deal agenda; and the important mission of advertising the benefits of fossil fuels.

This episode features Greg Wrightstone. Greg is the Executive Director of the CO2 Coalition and author of the bestselling book, “Inconvenient Facts.”

This week’s episode features Ed Longanecker. Ed is the President of the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association – also known as TIPRO. They represent and fight for oil and gas interests before the Texas Legislature, the Railroad Commission and other government agencies. 

In this episode, we take a deep dive on an issue important to everyone -- Media Bias.

This show examines how and why Americans have lost faith in the media to truthfully report the facts and highlights a few examples of Texas' media misleading its citizens on energy issues.

Meghan Lapp is our guest and she’s the fisheries representative for Seafreeze Ltd., the largest producer and trader of sea-frozen seafood on the U.S. East Coast.

Lapp has joined with other commercial fishers to fight offshore wind farms threatening Atlantic fisheries—part our nation’s valuable food supply. Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) represents them in a pending lawsuit to stop these windfarms that threaten their livelihoods and local economies.  

This topic is of interest to Texans because the Biden administration announced this July the first leases for offshore wind farms in the Gulf of Mexico. These windfarms will certainly have an impact on the environment, the fishing industry, shipping traffic, the Post of Houston and so much more.

Gregg A. Goodnight is a retired professional chemical engineer with a current focus on climate science and public policy analysis. Prior to retirement, he worked in the chemical industry for over 30 years in production, technical services, and consulting. Beginning in 2000, he was employed in the financial services industry as an equity analyst of US-based chemical companies, with special focus on commodity chemical production and feedstock analysis, and company financial and valuation assessments.

In this interview, we talk about oil and gas production, stranded natural gas use in Bitcoin mining, and why Texas’s culture makes a perfect match for bitcoin miners

This episode features our Texas Legislative Session wrap up. We will be talking to Jason Modglin with the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, Michael Lozano with the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, and Travis McCormick with the Panhandle Producers and Royalty Owners Association about the impacts of the session on Texas energy.

Commissioner Wayne Christian takes on an important issue for Texas that has recently taken center stage again—reliable energy versus unreliable energy. More specifically, how reliable and unreliable energy sources impact electrical grids.

For those unaware, “reliable” energy is coal, natural gas, and nuclear based energy sources, also known as thermal or dispatchable power. For decades they have provided low-cost, on-demand power to billions of people.

“Unreliable” energy is energy from intermittent sources such as wind and solar. These forms of energy only operate when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing, and have a history of faltering during times of extreme heat and cold - when we need them most.

This episode we have Gideon Powell, CEO of Cholla Petroleum Inc., a private exploration & investment company based in Dallas. Gideon is a Bitcoin mining entrepreneur who sat down with us at the Digital Wildcatters’ convention.

His family business traces its roots to Gideon’s grandfather, L.W. “Slim” Powell, who started in the oil business in East Texas in 1916.  Gideon continued his family’s wildcatting legacy in 2013 by expanding their operations in the Permian Basin. He has since gone on to found Autonomous LLC, a branch of his family’s company focusing on Bitcoin mining.

In this interview, we talk about his family’s historic legacy, what attracted him to Bitcoin mining, Bitcoin mining’s symbiotic relationship with energy production, and why Bitcoin mining and the oil and gas industry are so similar.

Senator Drew Springer is a conservative businessman from North Texas serving his second term in the Texas Senate. Previously, Senator Springer served four sessions in the Texas house. He was elected to the Texas House in 2013 and was consistently ranked among the top conservatives. In his first session in the Senate, he was ranked as the 2nd most conservative Senate member and one of the top 3 effective freshman in the last 20 years. In this interview, we talk about leveling the playing field for energy sources on the Texas grid, why Texas’ oil and gas production makes us different than his colleagues in California, and his bill the “Texas Energy Independence Act” which would defend Texas from federal overreach.

Representative Ellen Troxclair is from Lakeway representing five counties in the Hill Country from Western Travis County to Marble Falls to Fredericksburg to Boerne. Since then, she has gone on to become a small business owner, nonprofit leader, devoted mom, and proven conservative. As one of the few Republicans, and youngest woman, to ever to be elected and serve on the Austin City Council, she has stood as an unwavering fighter against leftist policies – and won.

In this interview, we talk about being the lone conservative from Austin, the lack of competitive fairness in Austin’s electricity market, the hypocrisy of the Left in combating global energy poverty, and her session priorities of protecting Texas kids, lowering property taxes, and securing the border.

Representative Brooks Landgraf who proudly represents District 81 serving West Texans across Andrews, Ector, Ward and Winkler counties. Landgraf is chairman of the House Environmental Regulation Committee and is a leader on energy issues in the Texas House. In this interview, we talk about defending West Texas and the oil and gas industry from the Biden Administration through his bill “Texas Energy Independence Act,” fighting the EPA’s efforts to shut down the Permian Basin, the challenges he sees this session, and getting the message out about the good fossil fuels do for Texans. 

Representative Mike Schofield. Representative Schofield represents District 132 which includes Katy and part of Cy-Fair in Harris County. He is in his third term. Previously, he served for 11 years as an advisor to Governor Rick Perry. In this interview, we talk about his district being a part of the “Energy Corridor”, keeping Texas THE energy leader with fossil fuels, why natural gas is SO important to the Texas electric grid, the dangers of Marxism and blessings of capitalism, and why oil and gas make Texas—Texas.

As co-founder and CEO of Digital Wildcatters, Collin runs his media outlet that offers an informational window into the world bridging of Bitcoin and oil and gas operations. They host events, podcasts, produce digital media, and create community.

Collin started his career in energy by roughnecking on oil rigs in West Texas. Over the next ten years, he worked in every major oilfield in the United States, managing drilling projects from the North Slope of Alaska to the deep waters in the Gulf of Mexico.

In this interview, we discuss his experience in oil and gas operations; why he got into Bitcoin and its entrepreneurial nature; good and bad energy policies; Bitcoin’s free market solutions to energy; and Collin’s journey from the oilfields of West Texas to one of the most visible media personalities in the digital wildcatting space.

Senator Brian Birdwell was elected to the Texas Senate in 2010 and currently serves as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Economic Development.

Senator Birdwell served in the U.S. Army for 20-years, including multiple deployments. In 1990, he deployed to Operation Desert Storm where he was awarded the Bronze Star for Exceptional Meritorious Service.

But the Senator is more widely known for his heroic survival story following the attacks on 9-11. On September 11th, when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed just yards away from his second floor Pentagon office, Senator Birdwell was critically wounded and severely burned.

Of the burns that covered more than 60 percent of his body, nearly half were third degree in severity. Today, following 39 operations, months of hospitalization and numerous skins grafts, Brian has made a miraculous recovery. He was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received that day. Upon retirement from the Army in 2004, he was awarded the Legion of Merit.

In his powerful "I am Second" video, Senator Birdwell stated about that day, "I lived to tell this story not because I was the toughest man in that building, but because the toughest man who ever walked this earth 2,000 years ago, who sits at the right hand of the father, had something else in mind." 

In this interview, Commissioner Christian and Senator Birdwell discuss the senator's session priorities and chairmanship, Texas’ “combat power” in fighting against Biden’s federal overreach, and his leadership to slow the expansion of ESG.

Senator Phil King proudly serves the citizens of Senate District 10, a sprawling district of southwest Fort Worth to Brownwood. Senator King was just elected as Chairman for the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute. He also serves on the National Board of Directors for the American Legislative Exchange Council and was the 2015 National Chair. King serves as Vice-Chair to the influential Senate Business and Commerce Committee, as well as serving on several others.

State Representative Carrie Isaac was recently elected in 2022 to represent Comal and Hays country in House District 73. Isaac is a fourth-generation Texan, nonprofit leader, wife, and mother. She is committed to fighting rising property taxes, supporting reliable Texas energy, ensuring a high-quality public education system, strengthening election security, and securing the border.

Our upcoming episodes will be a real treat for energy policy wonks and political junkies as we have discussions with several members of the Texas Senate and House. To those unfamiliar with Texas’ legislative body, it’s biennial meaning it meets every odd year.

For this first episode featuring some of our elected leaders here in Texas, we have newly elected Senator Mayes Middleton from Galveston and Representative Matt Schaefer from Tyler.

Senator Mayes Middleton was elected in 2022 to Texas Senate District 11, representing Galveston and part of the Gulf Coast area. Mayes serves as Vice-Chair on the Higher education Subcommittee and works on the influential Business & Commerce and State affairs Committees. Prior to his Senate election, Senator Middleton was first elected to the Texas House in 2018 to represent House District 23 and was Chairman of the Texas House Freedom Caucus.

In his private life, Mayes is an oil and gas industry expert. He is President of his family-owned business, Middleton Oil Company, an independent oil and gas company, and also runs ranching and farming operations.

Representative Matt Schaefer was elected in 2012 to represent Texas House District 6 from Tyler. Previously, he served our country in the military and retired as a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve. In his private life, Matt is a Red Raider and is a lawyer working in Real Estate.

Jason Modglin brings a wealth of legislative and regulatory expertise to the Alliance as its President. For the past decade, he has been at the forefront of the most pressing issues for oil and natural gas, from Austin to Washington, D.C.

Prior to joining the Alliance, Jason served as Director of Public Affairs for Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick. Previously, he was Chief of Staff for House Energy Resources Chairman Drew Darby. Before that, he served as a policy analyst for Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples.

Jason Isaac is Director of Life:Powered, a national initiative of the Texas Public Policy Foundation to raise America’s energy IQ. Isaac was elected four times as the Texas State Representative for Hays and Blanco counties in the Texas Hill Country.