Governor

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead appealed to U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar Thursday for more time to review the proposed Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rules on hydraulic fracturing (fracking). In a letter to the Obama administration cabinet member, Mead asked for an extension of the comment period on the draft BLM rules.

Royal Dutch Shell plc will decide within the next 18 to 24 months whether to build an ethane cracker in Beaver County, PA, according to a company executive.

Pennsylvania legislators failed once again to advance a bill to the governor’s desk that would impose an impact fee on natural gas drilling in the Marcellus and Utica shales.

The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) has adopted a rule for the disclosure of chemicals in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) fluids used to stimulate oil and gas wells in the state. Earlier this year state lawmakers passed legislation requiring such disclosure.

The House Agriculture Committee has subpoenaed Jon Corzine, former CEO of MF Global Holdings Ltd. and former governor of New Jersey, to attend a hearing Thursday to explain the events that led up to the company’s Oct. 31 bankruptcy and the disappearance of an estimated $1.2 billion in customer funds.

Gov. Jerry Brown has tapped an obscure and unfilled appointee position at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to add a special advisor to the mix of five governor-appointed state regulators to push along some his own pet distributed and solar energy initiatives. Jeanne Clinton, a manager in the CPUC’s Climate Strategies Branch, was appointed special advisor for energy efficiency, renewables and distributed generation. Clinton has worked in high-level energy policymaking positions in the state government since 2001. In addition to working with the five commissioners, Clinton will interface with the CPUC energy division and its office of government affairs, as well as other departments and agencies in state government. The appointment does not require state Senate confirmation as do the five CPUC commissioner positions.

California’s governor and environmental stakeholders in the state on Friday lauded the Obama administration for setting new, unprecedented fuel efficiency standards for the model years 2017-25. Major auto manufacturers joined the White House in announcing the new standards, which California has essentially already adopted.

Pennsylvania should create a registry to monitor the health of state residents and search for potential health impacts of Marcellus Shale drilling, said Pennsylvania Department of Health Secretary Eli Avila.

The Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission, which was formed earlier this month by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett and tasked with reporting back to the governor by July, held its first meeting in Harrisburg Friday.