Congressional hearing in Denver tackles fracking

USA TODAY
May 2, 2012


DENVER – Western state officials took turns bashing the federal government Wednesday at a congressional field hearing on proposed nationwide drilling rules on hydraulic fracturing.



The field hearing by the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources was called in response to last month's announcement by the Obama administration that it would seek coordinated federal oversight of natural gas production. The Interior Department, meanwhile, is expected to issue new rules in the next few weeks on natural gas drilling on public lands
The federal oversight was denounced by officials from Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, all of which rely heavily on oil and gas production.


"We have a knee-jerk reaction in Washington that the federal government needs to be in charge and be in control, and I couldn't disagree more," said Kathleen Clarke, director of the Utah Office of Public Land Policy Coordination.


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