© 2013 The Texas Lawbook.
Brooks Igo
Staff Writer for The Texas Lawbook
Patton Boggs recently added Elizabeth Ames Jones, immediate past chairman of the Railroad Commission of Texas, as a senior policy advisor. She will work out of the firm’s D.C. and Dallas offices in the public policy and energy and natural resources practice groups.
“The attorneys here have deep roots in oil and gas producing states,” she said. “It’s the perfect extension of my expertise. I’m excited to use everything I’ve learned as a public servant about sound public policy and put it to good use in another arena.”
Jones said a big issue facing the energy industry in 2013 is figuring out how natural gas should be used, specifically with the paradigm shift that has resulted from horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing in shale that has created a glut of natural gas.
While the safety of fracking remains hotly debated, Jones said one of her important tasks is to educate people on the myths regarding fracking, adding that there have been no instances of groundwater pollution. At the same time, she encourages regulators to keep their eyes on the ball where problems could arise so the energy industry can do what she says it does well: provide cheap, reliable energy to the consumer.
“[Multi-staged fracturing] is safe and good for America,” she said. “And it couldn’t come at a better time for consumers’ pocketbooks.”
Other areas in the energy industry that Jones has her eye on are the birth of new oil and gas producing states that the shale revolution has spawned.
“The states’ regulatory playbooks are just being crafted, and if they don’t get it right, they could undermine the great potential to grow their economies and create jobs that a healthy and vibrant energy industry can bring with it,” she said.
Jones said she will be available to advise clients on matters ranging from energy to healthcare regulatory issues, international business, and corporate communications. Additionally, she will be assisting Patton Boggs’ international practice in countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, where the firm has offices, and Mexico, which Jones feels has enormous potential for cross border growth.
As chairman of the Railroad Commission, Jones, a native of San Antonio and 1978 graduate of The University of Texas at Austin, oversaw a regulatory agency with statewide jurisdiction over permitting drilling for oil and natural gas, intrastate pipeline permitting and safety, ratemaking for investor-owned natural gas utilities, permitting surface mining of coal and the environmental protection of groundwater.
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