By State Rep. Brooks Landgraf
Texans, especially West Texans, have a certain reputation. We’re people of faith, honest and direct. We’re proud of our state and nation, and will let you know it. We love our families.
While all of those traits certainly describe Odessans, we’ve created our own brand over the decades, setting us apart from the herd. We don’t just work hard, we get the job done, no matter what it takes. We don’t complain or make excuses. You don’t want to get in a fight with an Odessan. But if you’re already in a fight, there’s nobody you’d rather have your back than someone from this community.
We fight the fight and do the work because we want to live, work and raise our families in a place of freedom and prosperity, where individual liberty and personal responsibility take precedence over cultural fads and societal winds.
Right now, our namesake city in Ukraine is also fighting the fight, only their fight is a literal war for their freedom. Odessa, Ukraine is a port city, a gateway to the Black Sea, a city that Putin must control if he expects to take over all of Ukraine. It is an energy hub, where refineries process millions of tons of oil per year and where pipelines connect Siberian oil and gas fields with Europe. We share more with these people than just the name of our respective localities.
Odessa, Texas is being talked about across the globe today. Not because we share our name with a city in Ukraine, but because of our ability to help fuel their victory over Russia. The international media is not talking about Dallas or Austin, they are talking about Odessa and Midland. Why? Because we are sitting on a stockpile that can turn the tides of this conflict just as it has in every other global conflict over the last 100 years. Texas black gold doesn’t just provide jobs and funding for Texas schools and highways, it is the currency that buys security for future American generations and enables the United States to be a global force for good.
Now, the world needs Texas to produce more oil. Early indications are that it is going to be difficult, or even impossible to ramp up production quickly enough to make a difference at the pump for most Americans. The big-city doubters, looking at numbers and charts on their computer screens, fail to account for the people who are going to be doing the work to ramp up production and what those people are capable of accomplishing. We Odessans are a resilient bunch, able to roll with the punches and turn the impossible into old hat. We’ll rise to the challenge and meet the demand and prove the doubters wrong.
After the 1970’s, these same “experts” never thought we’d get back to producing 1 million barrels a year. They were wrong then, and they’ll be proven wrong again. Oil is not just the answer today, it is the solution for tomorrow if we want a strong and prosperous nation for our children and their children.
Odessans, be they in Texas or Ukraine, are answering the bell. We will prove the naysayers wrong. We will keep standing up to bullies. We will win.
Until next time, I hope you will join me in prayer for our fellow freedom lovers overseas, and for the roughnecks and pipeline operators here in West Texas who are contributing to their fight.
God bless Texas!
