The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee advanced the nomination of Jeff Starling to serve as Oklahoma’s cabinet secretary of energy and environment by a 10-0 roll call, sending the nomination to the full Senate.

Senator Hitch presented Starling’s nomination, saying, “it is my honor to present for your consideration this morning Secretary Starling,” and noted Governor Stitt appointed Starling on 12/01/2024. Starling spoke briefly to the committee, thanking members and introducing family and staff in attendance. “I appreciate you being here today and thank you so much for bringing up my nomination. It's an honor to be here,” Starling said.

The nomination hearing focused on Starling’s professional background and his approach to energy policy. Committee members noted Starling’s private-sector experience: he served as chief legal and administrative officer for Lagoon Water Midstream from 2019 to 2024 and previously spent seven years as assistant general counsel and senior counsel at Devon Energy Corporation. Starling also holds a law degree from Wake Forest University School of Law and has served on local nonprofit boards, including the Science Museum of Oklahoma, Allied Arts of Oklahoma, the State Chamber, the Children’s Hospital Foundation and the Oklahoma Philharmonic Society. The transcript records that his deputy for agency and legislative affairs, Michelle Winn, was present and had just started in that role the prior Monday.

Committee questioning included two brief topics. Senator Rader asked about the building warning system; Starling replied that it was “very thorough.” Senator Bohr and others asked about opportunities for Oklahoma in emerging carbon markets and carbon capture. Starling described carbon sequestration wells in Oklahoma as “in my opinion a state's rights issue” and outlined a business-development view that couples natural gas generation with capture and underground disposal. He said state regulation — via the Oklahoma Corporation Commission under a delegation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — could allow decisions about carbon capture projects to be made by Oklahoma regulators rather than federal officials.

A motion to give the nomination a due pass was made by the chair and seconded by Senator Woods. The clerk called the roll; four senators are recorded in the transcript as announcing “aye” (Murdock, Rader, Thompson and Green), and the committee reported a final tally of 10 ayes and 0 nays. The committee chair declared the nomination passed and said it would proceed to the Senate floor.

The hearing record includes the nomination date cited by the sponsor (12/01/2024), Starling’s recent private-sector positions and civic-board service, the committee’s brief Q&A on Capitol building security and carbon capture regulation, and the unanimous committee vote to advance the nomination.

No committee action on statutes, budgets, or rule changes was taken during this item; the committee’s action was limited to advancing the nomination for floor consideration.