The researchers are trying to determine whether the differences
are based on factors including geology and population density or
institutional factors, such as the makeup of governments. "The
effort could introduce more facts to a long-standing argument
over the effectiveness of state regulation of oil and gas," E&E
News reports. While environmental groups want drillers regulated
by federal law, "The oil and gas industry prefers dealing with
individual states rather than the federal Environmental
Protection Agency," because state agencies aren't charged with
"exclusively protecting human health and the environment."
"State laws order most of them to balance regulation with
promoting oil and gas development, and they frequently have
close ties to the local industry," E&E News reports. A Greenwire
review last year found that more than 40 percent of state oil
and gas officials come from the oil and gas industry. E&E News
reports state agencies were created at a time when environmental
protection wasn't a priorit