A state Senate committee on energy issues began its own study of how to expand energy exploration in North Carolina. The General Assembly passed a bill to authorize a study of such an expansion but the Governor vetoed it. A study was ordered by the Perdue administration on the extraction of natural gas from a large field of shale under eastern North Carolina. But lawmakers say the study is going too slowly. State regulators turned to the U.S. Geological Survey to actually determine how much shale gas could be found but that report is well past the first anticipated date of publication. A representative of the state Energy Division discussed the economic impact but the Senators felt he focused too much on the negative. Assistant Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Robin Smith, outlined how her agency was compiling a report on rules and regulations. Senators Harris Blake (R-Moore), Bill Rabon (R-Brunswick) and Tom Goolsby (R-New Hanover) voiced their frustration over regulation. Senator Goolsby told Smith that was why the legislature wanted regulatory reform…
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