The Allegheny Front

Our favorite stories from 2024. Potato chips are getting more expensive--is climate change part of the reason? A new book out this year looks at radioactivity in the oil and gas industry, and its impacts on workers. The largest coal-fired power plant in Pennsylvania closed. For some, it's been hard to accept. We'll revisit Homer City. And the effort to build a nearly 50-mile loop of trails in Rothrock State Forest in Centre and Huntingdon Counties got a boost from the state. 

Twenty-five million people live in the Ohio River watershed, and some don't have clean water to drink. A report out earlier this year is one step in the effort to get federal funding to restore the Ohio and its communities. A kayak tour this summer on the Allegheny River had a unique twist: participants also made art together. The author of a book about deer and our sometimes complicated relationship with them says she developed a sort of gratitude for the animals. A Pittsburgh environmental activist celebrated a milestone this year for the grassroots lecture series she founded 12 years ago.

The general public's views on climate change in Sweden aren't that different from those in the U.S. So why are Sweden's climate policies so much more advanced? It's the 50th anniversary of the Safe Drinking Water Act, but even today, not everyone benefits equally. Plus, we head out on a winter tree ID walk. Also, heading home for the holidays by plane could mean a lot of climate pollution. Penn State has entered into an agreement with the PA Department of Environmental Protection over the presence of PFAS at the State College Regional Airport, and how to keep your home comfortable as temperatures drop.

Companies in Sweden are beginning to make steel without fossil fuels. Can it work in the US, which still relies on coal? A holiday shopping guide aims to make it easier to choose refurbished electronics to fulfill your gift list, It's December and that means migrant crows set up winter roosts in cities. Also, PennEnergy will pay a $2 million civil penalty, and reduce pollution from its facilities, in a proposed settlement with the Justice Department. The Mountain Valley Pipeline has had more issues with erosion control. An energy company with facilities in Turtle Creek, in Allegheny County, just got a boost from the U.S. Department of Energy. More than $3 million in new federal funds will help conserve trout streams in the mountainous areas of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York in the first tri-state initiative of its kind in the Delaware River watershed. The Audubon Christmas Bird Count is about to take flight. 

Steel is a major contributor to climate change. Companies in Sweden are starting to solve this problem by making steel with renewable energy. Some cooks ditch their gas stoves for induction cooking because of air quality and energy use. This summer two chicks of a bird species that hasn't successfully bred in Pennsylvania for over 60 years flew from their nest. Also, human-caused climate change increased damaging wind speeds for every hurricane in 2024. More than 40 million dollars in federal climate money is going to help Pennsylvania farmers. More wildfires have burned in Pennsylvania this fall than in the traditional spring fire season. Some experts say the storm that dumped 6 feet of snow on Erie, Pennsylvania this week is climate change in action.

Pennsylvania's trees are facing a multitude of threats including fungus, insects, and worms, like the ones that cause beech leaf disease. American chestnut trees once thrived in our region, but 150 years ago a fungus wiped them out. Researchers and advocates are trying to bring them back, but they disagree on how to do it. Plus, we tag along with a crew trying to save hemlock trees from a sap-sucking invasive pest. A researcher in Ohio was surrounded by hundreds of dead ash trees that the emerald ash borer, a beetle, had wiped out. But in that same forest, she found a lone tree thriving. Could this tree be the key to saving ash from extinction?

The Northeast has faced a record-breaking drought this fall. It's impacting trees, including the ones we put in our homes at Christmas. Most steel is made using coal. A new report says emissions from plants that are part of this traditional steelmaking have serious consequences for public health. A new exhibit looks at the environmental implications of our fashion choices. Also, there's been a sharp decline of several Pennsylvania bat species from white-nose syndrome. A new federal conservation plan aims to keep development projects from making things worse. ClearWater Conservancy recently received two grants to help pay for its new Community Conservation Center, which will serve as a hub for land conservation and watershed protection in central Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Game Commission is hopeful a state ban on Sunday hunting will be completely lifted next year. After an explosion at a fracking waste disposal site last year, nearby residents had concerns about impacts on health and the environment.

Last year the Biden administration tasked federal agencies with considering environmental justice in their decisionmaking. Some say that isn't happening as planning for the seven new hydrogen hubs moves forward nationwide. Water quality in Pennsylvania streams is being hindered by aging dams, many of which are dangerous and obsolete. Climate-related weather like flash floods and extreme heat impacts people experiencing homelessness. Also, an environmental group wants state regulators to tighten water pollution restrictions on a U.S. Steel plant near Pittsburgh which has released oil into the Monongahela River. Friends of the Riverfront released a new plan for recreation in Pittsburgh’s three rivers. PECO, formerly the Philadelphia Electric Company, has agreed to add solar energy to its mix of sources that generate electricity for customers in southeast Pennsylvania.

This week on The Allegheny Front, the election. We'll hear from voters in Pennsylvania who are skeptical about climate change and solutions, like electric vehicles and solar energy. Environmental leaders react to what a second Trump administration will mean for the climate. And, how state elections might and might not impact environmental progress in Pennsylvania.