Perry Sends Buddy Garcia After the Big Money

Via the Texas Tribune, we see where former Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Chairman Buddy Garcia has been appointed by Governor Perry to fill the seat on the misnomered Railroad Commission vacated by Eizabeth Ames Jones, who’s running for a state Senate seat in South Texas. In his time with TCEQ Garcia distinguished himself by, well, let’s see, how did he stand out? He didn’t. He’s one of a series of inter-changable Rick Perry clones that have inhabited TCEQ Commissioner positions over the last decade and voted in lockstep with whatever their mentor wanted. Now that’s he’s been reassigned to the RRC, Garcia has access to the kind of Oil and Gas money helpful for running for whatever it is that Garcia will be running for after his stint at the candy counter is over. He prepared tirelessly for the job by being a salesman for various energy industry front groups, like “Balanced Energy for Texas,” which you might not be surprised to learn actually is quite heavily lopsided towards oil, gas and coal. Perhaps because its sponsors include Peabody Coal, Luminant Energy, and American Electric Power. among others. Congratulations Commissioner Garcia. We know you’ll like this position much better than your last government job. It’s all about drilling and much, much less concerned about environmental quality.