Jaime Díez
Jaime Díez (Libertarian Party) ran for election to the Texas Railroad Commission. He lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Díez completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Jaime Díez was born in Brownsville, Texas.[1] Díez graduated from Saint Joseph Academy in 2014. He earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Southern Methodist University in 2019.[2]
Díez's career experience includes co-owning CARX and working as an operations manager with Logistic Experts LLC, the managing director of Valley Tire Recycling, and special project lead with Origo Works. He has served on the board of RGV Blockchain Initiative.[2]
Elections
2022
See also: Texas Railroad Commissioner election, 2022
General election
General election for Texas Railroad Commission
Incumbent Wayne Christian defeated Luke Warford, Jaime Díez, and Hunter Crow in the general election for Texas Railroad Commission on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Wayne Christian (R) | 55.4 | 4,401,187 |
 | Luke Warford (D)  | 40.5 | 3,222,305 | |
 | Jaime Díez (L) | 3.0 | 239,489 | |
 | Hunter Crow (G) | 1.1 | 85,570 | |
| Total votes: 7,948,551 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for Texas Railroad Commission
Incumbent Wayne Christian defeated Sarah Stogner in the Republican primary runoff for Texas Railroad Commission on May 24, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Wayne Christian | 65.0 | 574,573 |
 | Sarah Stogner | 35.0 | 308,859 | |
| Total votes: 883,432 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas Railroad Commission
Luke Warford advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas Railroad Commission on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Luke Warford | 100.0 | 916,650 |
| Total votes: 916,650 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Texas Railroad Commission
Incumbent Wayne Christian and Sarah Stogner advanced to a runoff. They defeated Tom Slocum Jr., Marvin Summers, and Dawayne Tipton in the Republican primary for Texas Railroad Commission on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Wayne Christian | 47.4 | 775,679 |
| ✔ | | Sarah Stogner | 15.0 | 244,949 |
 | Tom Slocum Jr. | 14.3 | 234,439 | |
| Marvin Summers | 11.9 | 194,099 | ||
 | Dawayne Tipton | 11.5 | 188,428 | |
| Total votes: 1,637,594 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Green convention
Green convention for Texas Railroad Commission
Hunter Crow advanced from the Green convention for Texas Railroad Commission on April 9, 2022.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Hunter Crow (G) |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Libertarian convention
Libertarian convention for Texas Railroad Commission
Jaime Díez advanced from the Libertarian convention for Texas Railroad Commission on April 10, 2022.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Jaime Díez (L) |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
2020
See also: Brownsville Independent School District, Texas, elections (2020)
General election
Special general election for Brownsville Independent School District Position 2
Denise Garza defeated Jaime Díez and Frankie Olivo in the special general election for Brownsville Independent School District Position 2 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Denise Garza (Nonpartisan) | 40.6 | 17,877 | |
| Jaime Díez (Nonpartisan) | 31.9 | 14,073 | |
| Frankie Olivo (Nonpartisan) | 27.5 | 12,112 | ||
| Total votes: 44,062 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jaime Díez completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Díez's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign website
Díez's campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION MUST ADOPT A POLLUTER PAYS PRINCIPLE INTO A REGULATORY FRAMEWORK. THE RRC SPENDS APPROXIMATELY $56 MILLION PER YEAR REMEDIATING THE ENVIRONMENT AND PLUGGING WELLS THAT OIL AND GAS OPERATORS SHOULD’VE BEEN LIABLE FOR • 45% OF THE COMMISSION'S BUDGET • THE REALITY IS THAT WHEN POLLUTERS DON’T PAY, THE BILL IS LEFT TO TEXAS TAXPAYERS. THE COMMISSION MUST ADOPT A POLLUTER PAYS PRINCIPLE INTO A REGULATORY FRAMEWORK MAKING THE FOLLOWING CHANGES CAN HELP THE ADOPTION: 1. REQUIRING AN AUDIT OF OPERATOR FINANCIAL SOLVENCY AND ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE HISTORY BEFORE WELLS ARE TRANSFERRED. Operators can often divest older, less profitable wells to avoid Assets Retirement Obligation (AROs). Since the decommissioning of these wells represents a liability for these companies, transferring these wells and their associated liabilities is beneficial for its financials. To avoid having to incur the decommissioning expense, the new operators of the transferred wells will either keep them marginally producing or file for bankruptcy, in which case the liability is shifted onto the taxpayer. The RRC should adopt joint liability retroactively to hold the original operators responsible and protect the taxpayer for paying for the well-plugging and site cleanup. Equitably Administer Liability can ensure that each operator would only be liable in portion to its share of the assets it profited from. The commission ultimately needs to seek clarity from the federal courts in applying the priority of liabilities in bankruptcy proceedings. Environmental liabilities are supposed to have priority in these proceedings; however, the number of wells being transferred to the RRC suggests this is not being enforced. 2. REQUIRING THAT PLUGGING AND ABANDONMENT OF WELLS BEGIN AS SOON AS OPERATIONS START WINDING DOWN. INCLUDING EMPTYING AND PURGING ALL EQUIPMENT. ADDITIONALLY, THE RRC SHOULD DISCONTINUE GRANTING PLUGGING EXTENSIONS, MITIGATING THE RISK OF ADVERSELY AFFECTING WATER AQUIFERS, GROUNDWATER, AIR QUALITY, AND WILDLIFE. 3. REQUIRING EVERY OIL AND GAS WELL TO HAVE ITS FINANCIAL SECURITY EQUAL TO THE ACTUAL COST OF ITS DECOMMISSIONING OBLIGATIONS IT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE FOR THE FINANCIAL SECURITY OF THE WELL TO BE LESS THAN ITS DECOMMISSIONING OBLIGATIONS; HOWEVER, THAT IS THE SYSTEM CURRENTLY IN PLACE. Operators should create a sinking trust that grantees that money is being set aside for each well’s decommissioning obligations. This way, the bankruptcy process cannot touch that money. The trust can only be terminated if the trustee and the beneficiary (RRC) consent. If the operator does not have the funds to meet the decommissioning obligations of the well, then they can opt for an annual trust fund payment. In this case, the operator must purchase a full cost surety bond to cover the difference. As the operator pays down the trust fund's amount, they will be able to reduce the surety bond requirement. SHUT-IN AND INACTIVE WELLS CAN STILL POSE A THREAT. A 2020 study found that pregnant women living near an inactive well were more like to give birth to underweight and premature babies. The savings operators plan to make do not justify the cost incurred by Texans. We need safety standards such as:
4. REQUIRING ALL SHUT-IN AND INACTIVE WELLS TO BE PROVISIONED WITH PRECAUTIONS AND REQUIRED SAFETY STANDARDS. THE RRC SHOULD PUSH FOR MORE WIDESPREAD USE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES. OPTICAL GAS IMAGING (OGI) CAMERAS OGI cameras allow inspectors to find gas leaks invisible to the human eye. Successfully identifying:
The cameras can also live-stream this footage to a central data repository could be a huge step forward in establishing certainty and objective standards when finding leaks at oil and gas industry sites. It is essential leaks are detected and handled quickly. Natural gas is composed of methane. Advocates of natural gas say it is much cleaner than coal since it only releases half the carbon dioxide when burned. However, left unburned, as with leaky infrastructure, methane is a highly harmful greenhouse gas. It only takes 3% of natural gas (methane) to leak into the atmosphere to make it worse than coal. DRONES The RRC should start a program to map methane emissions to supplement the commission’s inspection and enforcement program. The RRC can partner with the NASA Methane Source Finder. Currently, the RRC has 16 licensed drone pilots. Still, the commission’s “statutory authority is limited to using drones to respond to spills/leaks and emergency situations, and the commission does not have the legal authority to otherwise use drones.” SENSORS All wellheads should have real-time leak detection sensors. This year’s Oil and Gas Division Monitoring and Enforcement plan added “an H2S indicator and GPS location” to the ICE database. These sensors can supplement this system by providing real-time data. The RRC will have to train a new workforce, get new vehicles and equipment, and engage in partnerships with other agencies in implementing these changes. TAX EXEMPTIONS AND TAX INCENTIVES THE RRC ALSO NEEDS TO REPEAL ALL OIL AND GAS SEVERANCE TAX EXEMPTIONS AND TAX INCENTIVES SINCE THEY CREATE PERVERSE INCENTIVES. For example, the state does not charge a severance tax – which is a tax imposed on removing natural resources for gas that is lawfully vented or flared. On the other hand, the state provides a severance tax exemption for the value of previously released gas brought to the market. If an operator vents flare gas, the state will not charge a severance tax, even though the operator is extracting natural resources. When the operator eventually brings gas to the market, they will receive a severance tax exemption even though they never paid one in the first place. Directly against the RRC mission of protecting the residents of Texas, the state also has a low-producing oil lease tax incentive, a low-producing gas well tax incentive, and a tax credit for enhanced efficiency equipment. These incentives all pay operators for delaying plugging and abandonment of their wells. The RRC needs to grant access to its records for a third-party audit to understand the total spread of bonding and liabilities. Additionally, the RRC should issue a Decommissioning Costs Reporting Rule to inform bonding and trust requirements by including all decommissioning data into a public database. This will help cost calculation for plugging inactive wells. BEFORE YOU GO… THE PEOPLE OF TEXAS HAVE A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO AN ACCOUNTABLE AND HONEST GOVERNMENT THAT WORKS FOR THEM. WE NEED TO VOTE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE BOTH:
We can continue voting Republican or Democrat and expecting the long-awaited change that is never coming, or we can choose to vote different this time. Both the Democrats and the Republicans believe that we should live in a world with big governments and small people. I argue is that it’s time we give back power to the individuals and stand up for a world with small government and big people. The current ruling establishment has only succeeded in tearing us apart. Let’s opt-out of their game and come together.[3] |
” |
| —Jaime Díez's campaign website (2022)[4] | ||
2020
Jaime Díez did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on December 20, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 LinkedIn, "Jaime Diez," accessed March 20, 2022
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Jaime Andrés Díez for Railroad Commission, “Political Platform,” accessed March 20, 2022
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