TULSA, Okla. -- Oklahoma could lead the charge on developing an all-of-the-above energy policy, Col. Michael Teague, Oklahoma’s Secretary of Energy and the Environment, told participants at Hart Energy’s DUG Midcontinent conference earlier this month. The state ranks fourth in the nation for natural gas production, fifth for oil production and sixth for wind.

During his presentation, Teague defended Gov. Mary Fallin’s Oklahoma First energy plan.

“A lot of times, I’ll talk to oil and gas folks, and they say, ‘Please stop talking about wind,’ ” Teague, the first person to hold the office of Secretary of Energy and the Environment, said.

“No. The very first line of the governor’s energy plan says ‘all of the above.’ There’s no misconception that we’re going to go completely to renewable energy. It may be a great innovation for my grandkids, but that’s not where we are right now in our state or in our nation.”

But, he said, renewables and fossil fuels can work together to generate reliable power that is also environmentally friendly. He chose a wind turbine that is also powered by natural gas as an example. “It gets to 75% of its max output in 10 minutes,” he said. “So if you’ve got wind that ramps up and ramps down at Mother Nature’s whim, you’ve got to have something to match. So a turbine that will use Oklahoma natural gas to pair with Oklahoma’s wind power is a great combination, and we’re seeing more and more of this today.”

The state is also making big strides in the CNG market. By growing public fleets and providing tax incentives, Oklahoma has seen 600% growth, in gas gallons equivalent, of CNG between 2009 and 2013 and the state has more CNG fill stations per capita than any other state, according to Teague. Once CNG spreads to the southeast corner of the state, “one hundred miles will be max distance between stations in the entire state,” he said.

Teague also addressed several hot-button issues including earthquakes and water consumption. Many think that the recent increase in earthquakes in Oklahoma is the result of hydraulic fracturing. He acknowledged that there has been an increase in the number of earthquakes in Oklahoma since 2009, but called for the industry and the state to collaborate on research into the cause.

“It is not hydraulic fracturing,” he said. “We’ve had a huge uptake in earthquakes since 2009. We’ve been fracing wells in Oklahoma for 60 years. It might have something to do with injection wells, but we still don’t know. So we need the geologic survey to do the analysis and they need the data from industry to do that analysis.”

Teague also made a plea to the industry about water. A day earlier, Apache Corp.’s (NYSE: APA) Rob Johnston told the crowd that Oklahoma is in its third year of drought, and the industry is competing more with agriculture and municipalities for water use.

“The state needs your help on water,” Teague said. “We can’t keep doing what we’re doing. We can’t keep doing what we’re doing for ag. We can’t keep doing what we’re doing for municipal and industrial, and we can’t keep doing what we’re doing for oil and gas for water. You guys are the most nimble industry in the state, and the state needs your help on water.”

Building on the theme of collaboration, Teague said he had attended a meeting with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in December. “It was all the utilities from the state. It was the Sierra Club, it was some of our bigger electrical consumers,” Teague said. “We got everybody together and we had a great conversation about what we need and whatever these rules are going to be. And the EPA went back and they listened. ...Truly, collaboration is how you get stuff done.”