What Pennsylvania's Attorney General Nominees Are Saying About Drilling | StateImpact Pennsylvania Skip Navigation

What Pennsylvania's Attorney General Nominees Are Saying About Drilling

Scott Detrow / StateImpact Pennsylvania


Kathleen Kane defeated Patrick Murphy in the race for the Democratic state Attorney General nomination, winning by a 53-47 margin.
Kane  wants to step up the Attorney General’s environmental crimes unit, and make the AG’s office more involved in regulating natural gas drilling. She described her environmental platform during an interview with Allentown’s WFMZ:

It is the mission of the Environmental Crimes Section to investigate and prosecute crimes against Pennsylvania’s environment. Never has this section of the Attorney General’s Office been more important to the citizens of Pennsylvania.
Since the discovery of natural gas in Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale formations, dozens of oil and gas companies have descended upon our commonwealth to extract their riches from the earth. Using a process called fracking, these companies pump unknown chemicals into the ground, which may poison our groundwater or harm our citizens. We need to make sure that the Attorney General’s Office has the resources necessary to protect Pennsylvanians and our environment from the dangers of fracking and ensure our environment is not destroyed by the natural gas “gold rush” going on throughout our Commonwealth today.


Kane will face Cumberland County District Attorney Dave Freed in the fall campaign. How would the Republican handle environmental issues? Freed told witf the Attorney General’s main goal is to “level the playing field.”
“I would certainly protect the rights of law-abiding property owners and also law-abiding businesses,” he said. “And if a business, an industry, a person gets on the wrong side of the statute of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, then they’re going to have to deal with us.”

Up Next

Environmental Regulators Fear Invasive Alga Along Delaware River