States are better qualified than federal and local governments to regulate hydraulic fracturing and other unconventional oil and gas activities, two speakers agreed at an energy and environment conference at George Mason University’s School of Law. But a third speaker argued that some states’ performances as the primary US oil and gas regulator are unsatisfactory and needs to be reevaluated. Rapid growth of US oil and gas production from tight shale formations is bringing new scrutiny to regulation at all levels of government, all three speakers agreed during a panel discussion at a day-long conference, “Old Fuels, New Technologies, and Market Dynamics,” at the law school’s campus in Arlington, Va., on Apr. 7. “There’s no convincing basis for the federal government coming in and trying to regulate fracing,” said Michael L. Krancer, a partner at the law firm Blank Rome LLP in Philadelphia who formerly led Pennsylvania’s Department of […]