As chairman of the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, I held a public meeting on Senate Bill 799, which seeks to enhance Pennsylvania’s environment through the Growing Greener III program. Those providing testimony to the committee spoke on the success of Growing Greener in protecting, preserving and improving Pennsylvania’s air, water and open spaces.

In Pennsylvania, an estimated 300,000 abandoned or orphaned conventional gas wells continue to emit methane gas into our atmosphere, contributing significantly to the greenhouse gasses that envelop our planet. As chairman of the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, I was happy to support House Bill 2154, which would clarify our laws as they pertain to conventional wells and enable our environmental regulators to more aggressively cap abandoned wells and protect our environment. House Bill 2154 was voted out of my committee and now goes to the full House for consideration.

At a Capitol news conference, PA Rep. John Maher (R-Allegheny/Washington) comments on bills he and Reps. Jim Christiana (R-Beaver/Washington) and Aaron Bernstine (R-Beaver/Butler/Lawrence) are sponsoring to greatly enhance transparency and accountability at state-related universities.