PA Environment Digest

Sen. Mary Jo White (R-Venango), Majority Chair of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, announced Thursday she would not seek re-election in 2012.

"Today I am announcing that I will not be a candidate for re-election to the Senate of Pennsylvania in 2012. After a career in the private sector, I never expected to have an opportunity to enter political life," said Sen. White. "It has been an exciting and challenging time, and I would not have missed it for the world. I have worked with talented and dedicated people in and out of government. I sincerely thank the people of the 21st District for their confidence and support."

Sen. White has served in the Senate for 14 years and chaired the Senate Environmental Committee for 12 years and has been involved in every major environmental law passed since 1999, including the Environmental Stewardship and Watershed Protection (Growing Greener) Act, the Water Resources Planning Act and has been in the middle of the debate over Marcellus Shale legislation.

"Sen. White's leadership and practical approach to environmental issues has fundamentally changed how we think about these issues," said David E. Hess, former Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection. "She is more concerned with whether a program or law will make a real difference in protecting the environment, rather than just a political statement. Her leadership on the enactment of the award-winning Growing Greener Program, in particular, put in place an indispensable tool for reclaiming mines, helping communities restore their watersheds and meeting our Clean Water Act obligations.

"Sen. White also worked in concert with Democratic members like Sen. Ray Musto and John Yudichak to develop bipartisan solutions to problems, something that is a rare commodity in today's very partisan world," said Hess.

"I look forward to her continued leadership on Marcellus Shale environmental protection and drilling legislation as the General Assembly brings that issue and the renewal of the Growing Greener Program to a conclusion, hopefully early in 2012," Hess added. "Resolving these issues would be a fitting bookend to her dozen years as Chair of the Environmental Committee."

She became the first woman elected to Senate Republican Leadership as Caucus Administrator in 2001. Prior to becoming Senator she served as a public defender in Venango County and was Vice President for Environment/Government Affairs for Quaker State Corporation.

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