Pennsylvania legislators long have refused to force gas drillers to stop methane leaks, even though doing so would help fight dangerous climate change, and the technology to do so readily is available.

But markets aren’t so forgiving. International markets have posed the biggest growth potential for U.S.-produced gas for some time. And now, massive economic sanctions against Russia for its Ukraine invasion, and Russia’s own threats to cut off gas exports to Europe, have vastly expanded the European market for American natural gas. And the European Union market includes requirements for gas produced in a way that captures methane, a powerful greenhouse gas and a key culprit in atmospheric warming.

So, reported recently by The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, producers in Pennsylvania and nationally are scrambling to environmentally “certify” their gas as being “low-emitting” or “responsibly sourced.”

The problem is that there is no common certification regime, so “certified” could cover a wide range of actual conditions regarding wells, processing facilities and pipelines.

One company in the field, Project Canary, began as a methane detection operation. It since has developed some 600 data points by which it certifies wells, including measuring lost methane and amounts of pollution generated by trucks and equipment tied to drilling sites.

Some drillers have developed their own metrics, and most have not yet applied certification standards to all of their wells. One driller, Penn Energy Resources, told the Post-Gazette that it has certified all 600 of its wells through Project Canary.

All of that is to the good. But there should be an industrywide standard not only to ensure the broadest possible environmental benefit but to ensure that all drillers work under the same regulatory regime.

State lawmakers should embrace the market-driven change in favor of the environment by mandating gas certification based on the factors used by Project Canary and others. It should authorize the state Department of Environmental Protection to set the standards to make sure “certification” is not just an aspect of marketing.

— The Citizens’ Voice, Wilkes-Barre