PIOGA President & Executive Director, Dan Weaver, addresses the significant debate in Harrisburg over a long-standing and misrepresented issue facing Pennsylvania in its role as the birthplace of the world’s oil and natural gas industry.

In the near future, Pennsylvania State Senator Gene Yaw will introduce legislation that will change the name of the “Department of Environmental Protection” to the “Department of Environmental Services”. Yaw explained - "The word 'protection' carries a law enforcement or security connotation rather than that of an environmental resource and partner to the citizens of Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, enforcer has become the prevalent view of the department, overshadowing other work which is detrimental to an open relationship between the citizenry and their government regarding environmental issues."

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will host five more town halls across the commonwealth this month to hear from environmental justice communities about efforts to combat climate change.

House Republicans passed legislation Thursday that would increase oil drilling and mining on public lands and waters, defying President Biden’s climate agenda and fulfilling a campaign promise to focus on lowering gasoline prices ahead of the 2024 election.

President Biden on Monday vetoed his first bill — blocking a Republican-led effort to restrict pension funds from making investment decisions based on factors such as climate change.

In January 2023, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection issued two reports that include statistics and information about the oil and gas industry between 2017 and 2021, which purport to provide a snapshot of the industry. The 2021 Oil and Gas Annual Report and the report generated in response to Governor Wolf’s lapsing statement for House Bill 2644 (Act 96 of 2022) (Recommendation Report), however, fail to provide a complete or accurate picture of the industry, in part because they do not explain the realities behind the numbers or include descriptions of the good work of the conventional oil and gas industry to address environmental issues collaboratively.

Range Resources Corp. touted a long-term monitoring of air around a Cecil Township well pad that it said showed no elevated concentration of pollution in the area. Range said the findings showed that the 24-hour concentrations of PM2.5, a pollutant, were under the EPA’s National Ambient Air Quality Standard.

The powerful senators will roll out the Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act, which would bar the Consumer Product Safety Commission from using federal funding to ban new or existing gas stoves.

America emerged from the Second World War as an industrial colossus. But after that, things changed. The past half century, by contrast, witnessed the outsourcing of much of our manufacturing base, and with it many of the ladders to opportunity that the working class had relied upon. America today is poised to reverse this trend, and developments in the Pittsburgh region are key facilitators.

Gov.-Elect Josh Shapiro on Tuesday nominated former Philadelphia Deputy Mayor Rich Negrin as secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection.