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Even with more cooperation between state and federal officials in the testing of ground water in Pavillion, Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead said Tuesday that unilateral actions by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are raising concerns.

As states proceed with a collective effort to buy natural gas vehicles (NGV) for government fleets, Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead on Tuesday warned that state efforts to stimulate the spread of alternative fuel vehicles should not get “ahead of the private sector.”

Already planted firmly on the side of states’ rights advocates in the debate about regulating hydraulic fracturing (fracking), Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead said Thursday he thinks the Republican Party platform and presidential candidate Mitt Romney recognize that the states must play a key role in the nation’s energy policy.

Helping lead the charge for an eventual bipartisan and serious discussion about the future U.S. energy policy, Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead said Friday the federal government “doesn’t have a corner on the market” for regulating the oil and natural gas drilling process of hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

The senior executives of Halcon Resources Corp. have a fatter checkbook than when they started Eagle Ford Shale pioneer Petrohawk Energy Corp. not so very long ago. Having sold that successful natural gas-focused venture, with Halcon they are targeting unconventional oil plays with a similar strategy and expecting similar success.

The head of Wyoming’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is retiring, and Gov. Matt Mead said on Monday that he is starting a search for a replacement. DEQ Director John Corra, who has headed the department for two different governors since 2003, will stay on the job until October. Mead lauded Corra for setting “a standard for effective and balanced regulation with fiscal prudence.” Mead has asked for interested candidates to submit a letter of interest and resume to his office (2090 W. 24th St. Cheyenne, WY, 82002).

As he has done with hydraulic fracturing and other environmental regulatory issues, Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead Tuesday urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to defer to his state in regulating regional haze, which ties directly to the state’s oil, natural gas and power generation industries. Mead wrote to EPA’s air quality program director to head off the mandate of a federal implementation plan (FIP).

Harkening back to an abandoned, high profile, public/private sector coal gasification project in his state, Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead at a press conference on Friday indicated he wants to rekindle similar like coal gasification projects in the state, drawing on advancements now in commercial operation in China.

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.