There are but 17 actual Democrats remaining in the Texas House

Almost all of the rest have sold themselves out to the oil and gas companies.

Worth repeating: if you get confused and angry when non-voters say, "Democrats and Republicans are all the same," then you just aren't paying close enough attention, especially to the Texas Legislature.

(HB 40, the bill to overturn local control of fracking) passed on a 122-18 bipartisan vote. Thirty of the 52 Democrats in the House voted for HB 40. The only Republican to vote against the bill was Rep. Tam (sic) Parker (R-Flower Mound), whose suburban district has struggled with intense fracking activity.

The "Dirty Thirty" Texas Democrats who voted for this bill include the following:

Alma Allen
Carol Alvarado
Garnet Coleman
Yvonne Davis
Joe Deshotel
Dawnna Dukes
Harold Dutton
Jessica Farrar
Helen Giddings
Robert Guerra
Ryan Guillen
Ana Hernandez (Luna)
Tracy King
Oscar Longoria
Eddie Lucio III
Armando Martinez
Ruth Jones McLendon
Borris Miles
Sergio Munoz, Jr.
"Poncho" Nevarez
Rene Oliveira
Joe Pickett
Richard Raymond
Ron Reynolds
Toni Rose
Senfronia Thompson
Sylvester Turner
Hubert Vo
Armando Walle
Gene Wu

Roberto Alonzo (absent) attached a signing statement saying he would have been a 'no'.  Dukes and Farrar, listed above as voting 'yes', also added statements saying that they "intended to vote no", whatever that means.  Other Democrats not present and not voting included Abel Herrero and Marisa Marquez.  Ramon Romero was wandering off somewhere; his signing statement says he would have voted yes.

Let's commend the lonely 17 Democrats remaining in the lower chamber that oppose state overrule of localities' efforts to keep the frackers from poisoning them: Rafael Anchia, Diego Bernal, Cesar Blanco, Terry Canales, Nicole Collier, Joe Farias, Mary E. Gonzalez, Roland Gutierrez, Donna Howard, Celia Israel, Eric Johnson, Trey Martinez Fisher, Joe Moody, Elliot Naishtat, Eddie Rodriguez, Justin Rodriguez, and Chris Turner.  And of course the one Republican who has had the scales fall from his eyes: Tan Parker.

Feel free to verify me against this list, which is where you can also find individual contact information by clicking on your representative's name.  If you would like to register your disapproval with them, or something.

Notably disgraceful was Houston mayoral front-runner Sylvester Turner.

During the debate, Turner said he would vote against HB 40 if it wasn’t amended to include a guarantee that cities could write ordinances protecting city-owned land. However, he was among a number of Democrats who complained about the legislation but ended up voting for it.

“I was surprised,” said Rep. Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas), who voted against the bill, of how lopsided the vote was. Anchia’s district includes some of the few proposed gas wells in the city of Dallas.

Turner said the bill’s passage was all but assured.

“We all came in knowing there was enough power behind the bill to get it passed,” he said. “This train has left the station. I gave it everything I could, I recognized what the end result was going to be, so I put myself in a position to be able to continue working with the authors as this bill moves forward.”

When push comes to shove and the fracking campaign contributions are at risk, witness the roll-over, as evidenced by all of the Houston and South Texas (Eagle Ford shale) Ds who tumbled, collapsed, and surrendered.  A line was drawn in the sand at the Alamo, and they chose not to cross it.

So they all need to be primaryed, and they all need Green party challengers in the general, just for grins if this reason isn't good enough.  Because nothing is ever going to change in this state until there is some semblance of opposition to the corporate powers that be.

Update: A fairly remarkable response to this on Facebook.