Western state officials say feds shouldn't regulate drilling

Western state officials took turns bashing the
federal government at a congressional field hearing on proposed
nationwide drilling rules on hydraulic fracturing.
     But Democrats on the panel Wednesday, along with some Colorado
environmental activists, insisted that health concerns around the
drilling procedure known as fracking mean there is a need for
common health and safety standards.
     Officials from Colorado, Wyoming and Utah testified before the
Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Wednesday at the
Colorado Capitol. The state officials said states are better suited
than the Department of Interior at regulating drilling. They
clashed with Colorado environmentalists and a Democratic
congressman from New Jersey who argued that health concerns are the
same in Western states and Eastern states and that national
drilling regulation is appropriate.