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.
We have news about rollbacks to power plant rules, cuts to solar tax credits, a new state energy siting board and menstrual products in state parks.
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Australians call on Pittsburgh journalists to help protect an ancient forest - Two PublicSource reporters visited western Australia, where Pittsburgh-based aluminum-giant Alcoa wants to expand its mining operations near a unique ecosystem.
In Western Pa., a new mine expansion has residents nearby worried - Neighbors reported doors opening on their own, cracks in their basement. A new mine expansion has residents worried about their water wells. 
Despite court order, black lung screening program still not fully functional - There are no funds to operate a mobile X-ray unit and the agency is missing contract workers to read chest X-rays.
Pa. clean energy businesses call on McCormick, Fetterman to preserve tax credits - They say the federal spending plan before the U.S. Senate would devastate the clean energy industry in Pennsylvania, while raising energy costs.
Pa. Republican congressmen applaud EPA plan to roll back Biden-era climate rules - Biden-era rules aimed to phase out greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel plants and tighten limits on mercury and air toxics. 
Federal officials call miners’ health a ‘priority,’ but are cutting a Pa. team studying mine safety - A roughly 100-person team at a NIOSH facility in Allegheny County are set to lose their jobs in June. They study the best ways to prevent injuries, illnesses and death in coal mines.
