When Texas oil and gas companies need to remove a legal roadblock to drilling, or answer for alleged wrongdoing, they head to court — and a bill that could be considered by the state legislature as early as Thursday would hand them considerable sway in picking the judges that hear some of their cases.

The state’s $200 billion fossil fuel industry has thrown its weight behind legislation that would create a new system of district courts to hear certain disputes involving corporations. While twenty-six states already have so-called business courts, the Texas proposal has a unique feature: Republican governor Greg Abbott, who has been bankrolled by fossil fuel donors, would have the power to personally appoint judges, who would then serve two-year terms — a tenure that would let Abbott quickly remove judges if they deny favorable rulings to his supporters.

The legislation backed by the oil industry comes just after the US Supreme Court allowed climate cases against fossil fuel companies to proceed in state courts. Opponents of the business-court plan say that not only would it run afoul of the state constitution, which mandates the popular election of district and appellate judges, but it could also set a dangerous national precedent by undermining the independence of the judiciary.