Full Episode

Pennsylvania leaders say the state needs more energy, so there’s a plan to create a board to streamline the siting of new power projects. Environmental groups and others are split on the idea. Environmental groups in Western Pennsylvania want to meet with officials from Nippon Steel to discuss how it plans to clean up its newly acquired U.S. Steel plants in the region. Residents who live along the Mountain Valley gas pipeline are still worried a year later about their health and safety. A new exhibit at the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden plays with the idea of movement.

The Ohio River Basin provides millions of people with water, but it's one of the most polluted river systems in America. A plan to clean up the Ohio River goes public. Are President Trump and congressional Republicans going to tank America's EV industry before it can get off the ground? An effort to make buildings in Pittsburgh more efficient meets a milestone.

The approval of a coal mine expansion in Western Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands has residents worried. Also, more than 100 mine researchers and engineers at a federal office in Allegheny County are slated for termination. We talk with Pittsburgh journalists who were asked by Australians to report about Alcoa's mining operations near an ancient forest there. Cicadas make their 17-year appearance in central Pa.

After Traci Lynn Martin’s mom died, she knew she couldn’t keep putting off her dream: becoming the first person to kayak around the Great Lakes in one year. So she quit her job as a nurse, cashed out part of her retirement savings, and set out to accomplish her goal. We have the story of her journey.

River otters have made a comeback in Pennsylvania. Veterans are building a sunflower garden for a community, but also helping each other adjust to non-military life in the process. A former dairy farmer turned musician uses his story to get others in agriculture to talk about their feelings and find healing.

A new outdoor recreation area in a Pittsburgh park is meant to include people of all abilities. When hikers make it to the halfway point on the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania, there’s a tradition of eating a half gallon of ice cream. An environmental reporter shifts his perspective by leaning into the landscape. A network of trails in Northeast Pennsylvania that follows old railroad corridors is now carrying economic development across the region. 

A nonprofit hopes to help landowners reclaim mineland in Appalachia by planting trees and selling carbon credits. Their first partner is the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. A bill in the Pennsylvania legislature would withhold funding from communities that try to restrict shale gas drilling because of pollution and disruption. De-paving parties involve hard hats, sledgehammers, and a lot of volunteers to create space for water drainage and gardens.

Last year, workforce development organizations in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia were awarded a $15 million EPA grant to train people in landscaping and tree pruning, and to expand their services. But the federal government just terminated the grant. A new map shows there have been important federal investments in clean energy across Pennsylvania, but as federal dollars to support climate initiatives become uncertain, more action is needed. A reporter was stopped by police for asking follow-up questions at an oil and gas committee meeting.

The future of the Endangered Species Act is in question. A bill to amend it was recently introduced in Congress, and environmentalists are taking issue with it. Attacks by black bears are exceedingly rare, but they do happen. How proximity to humans and our pets could be pushing some species, like black bears, to act erratically. Pittsburgh International Airport is doubling the size of its solar field about a mile from the main terminal.

Cement is the glue that keeps concrete together, and it has a big carbon footprint. That's a problem for a warming planet. A Johnstown-based mining company has gotten the go-ahead to expand an underground coal mine in Westmoreland County. The site of a demolished coal-fired power plant is being redeveloped to build a massive gas-fired power plant and data center. The American Lung Association gave Pittsburgh’s air quality an "F" in its latest annual report.