By Jeffery W. Perkins

As communities across Pennsylvania try to recover from the devastation wrought by COVID-19, state and corporate leaders have a rare opportunity to address another threat to public health, our climate and an entire industry’s future: dangerous levels of methane emissions from the oil and gas sector.

Natural gas is primarily made up of methane, which oil and gas companies then sell. But during the production process, methane and other smog-forming pollutants escape, threatening our air quality, health, and the climate.

As Pennsylvanians face the pandemic, our primary concern is safeguarding peoples’ health, particularly the most vulnerable among us, like seniors and those with underlying chronic and respiratory conditions.

The air pollution caused by methane emissions makes it much more difficult to protect…