What’s Delaying Hydraulic Fracturing Progress in Illinois? [AUDIO]

When Illinois lawmakers were considering a regulatory law last year to encourage hydraulic fracturing in the state, we checked in often with Mark Denzler, vice president and chief operating officer of the Illinois Manufacturers' Association. One of the more impressive things about the effort was the support that it found from across the political spectrum -- unions, environmental groups, even Governor Quinn was on board.

Almost a year later not much has happened. So, what's delaying hydraulic fracturing work in Illinois? We talked again with Denzler on the show this week.

The short story is that until the rulemaking process is done, high volume oil and gas drilling cannot begin in the state. A bill was proposed in the Spring session to speed things up, but it died before getting a vote.

We asked Denzler what's holding up the process and why an effort with a wide base of support is still struggling to get off the ground:

Our best guess is [the DNR director] is getting some internal pressure from the Governor's office to kinda take it slow and easy and don't make any waves before the election. And the frustrating part is number one, the lack of job creation through this industry and number two, the clock is somewhat ticking [on passing rules].

Here's our full conversation with Denzler, in which we also touch upon the new carbon rules proposed by the EPA and how they might impact the state: