Oklahoma’s New Secretary of Environment and Energy Named

• Joe Wertz
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Joe Wertz was a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma from 2011-2019. He reported on energy and environment issues for national NPR audiences and other national outlets. He previously worked as a managing editor, assistant editor and staff reporter at several major Oklahoma newspapers and studied journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma.

Provided

Col. Michael Teague, Oklahoma Secretary of Energy and Environment.

Gov. Mary Fallin on Friday appointed Col. Michael Teague to the newly created Secretary of Energy and Environment position.

Teague is the former Tulsa District Commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Gov. Fallin created the cabinet-level post by combining the offices of Secretary of Energy and Secretary of Environment, recently vacated by Michael Ming and Gary Sherrer, respectively.

Fallin’s move to merge the two secretary positions was criticized by the Oklahoma chapter of the Sierra Club, but the governor said combining the offices makes sense:

“Strong energy policy is strong environmental policy,” Fallin said in a statement.