Several State environmental laws such as those for wetlands, flood plains, and leaking underground fuel tanks, are not being adequately enforced in all or portions of the state.

I will identify these laws and fight vigorously to get them enforced.

I will examine environmental laws in other states to see what Pennsylvania is neglecting. For example, New Jersey law provides for protection to buffers around wetlands. Pennsylvania law does not but it should.

Pennsylvania has just as many toxic waste sites as New Jersey, maybe a lot more, but many of them are not listed on the official toxic waste site lists. Why? If we want to clean them up, we have to know where they are.

I will work to ensure that all toxic waste sites in Pennsylvania are identified and documented.

I will oppose efforts by some legislators, mostly Republicans, to weaken mercury air pollution regulations in Pennsylvania. I would oppose HB (House bill) 2610.

I will work with other pro-environment House members to oppose the state Senate's attempt to block the PA Clean Vehicles program.

I would have voted in favor of the Governor's Growing Greener II initiative rather than the watered down version forced on the governor by the House and Senate Republican caucuses.

Wind power is a great alternate energy source that has the potential to greatly reduce our dependence on imported oil. The country of Denmark now gets 20 percent of its electricity from wind power. Large wind energy "farms" are being built in Pennsylvania and a Spanish firm is now manufacturing wind power turbines in Bucks County. However, wind farm operators must work with bird and bat conservation agencies to substantially reduce the documented large number of birds and bats that are killed by wind energy turbines.

Coal is a very important source of energy in Pennsylvania and nationwide. I will support legislation that protects the rights of small operators to continue to mine anthracite coal in northeastern Pennsylvania. I will support legislation that encourages clean coal technology including:

• No-net-CO2 technologies that have been developed and proven commercially feasible by the US Department of Energy
• Efforts to lessen the environmental impact of coal fly ash, a huge volume of waste produced by burning of coal
• Efforts to clean up abandoned coal waste piles
• Efforts to clean up and restore streams polluted by acid mine waste water
• Efforts to restore abandoned strip mine sites to natural land or productive agriculture

A large part of the water and sediment pollution in the Chesapeake Bay comes from the Susquehanna River watershed in Pennsylvania. We can and must do more to reduce pollution and sediment entering streams that flow into the Susquehanna River. We can do this by greatly expanding the length of un-mowed, un-grazed, and un-plowed vegetated buffer zones along all Susquehanna River tributaries, large and small.

The Pennsylvania League of Conservation Voters (PALCV) regularly publishes legislative and technical recommendations for improving environmental protection. I support all of these recommendations and will sponsor, co-sponsor, and vote for legislation to make them a reality.

I will work to enact laws or initiate programs at the state level to protect limestone karst areas from groundwater pollution, protect karst ecosystems, and provide for best engineering practices in karst areas.

Millions of acres in Pennsylvania are underlain by limestone karst which is prone to sinkholes and caves. These areas have unusual surface and subsurface hydrology (water flow patterns) which make them especially prone to water pollution. Karst can pose special challenges to highway and building construction. Caves and some sinkholes have unusual ecological features, including rare plants at entrance areas, threatened and endangered cave-adapted animals, and beneficial insect-eating bats. Efforts to protect sensitive karst natural resources have been lead by the recreational caving community and their national organization, the National Speleological Society (NSS), along with cave conservancies including the Mid Atlantic Karst Conservancy (MAKC) and the Pennsylvania Cave Conservancy (PCC). The state government and its agencies can and should do more to work with these groups and other groups to protect karst resources.