Texans will be electing a new regulator of the state's huge oil and gas industry

One of the statewide offices Texas voters will decide on next week is railroad commissioner. It's a role that has nothing to do with trains and everything to do with the state’s oil and gas industry. The contest has been in the spotlight because of a racist social media post by the Republican candidate. But the position has real power over an industry that produces more crude oil than most countries.

The Texas Railroad Commission used to regulate railroads; now, it oversees oil and gas production. And it was a model for OPEC, as an oil cartel that sets production limits, says James Coleman, a scholar of energy law at the University of Minnesota.

“In terms of history, it's the most important oil and gas regulator, and nowadays you would have to say that it's in the top two or three oil and gas regulators around the world,” he said.

The commission has three elected members.

“They make all manner of decisions in terms of oil and gas drilling,” Coleman said. “So, can you get a permit for a well? When you're drilling a well, how close to your neighbor's property can you come?”

Those decisions are important because Texas provides so much of the country’s and the world’s oil and gas, says David Spence, a professor of energy law at UT Austin.

“So the rates of production, the way in which it's produced, the degree to which we allow greenhouse gases and smog precursors to be part of that process — all those things affect people beyond the borders of Texas,” he said.

One example is the large amount of methane — a greenhouse gas — released from oil and gas fields in the state’s Permian Basin.