The Allegheny Front Environmental Podcast

A look back at environmental stories of 2020. Blaming the pandemic, some people doubt that a petrochemical boom will come to the Ohio Valley. The boom and bust of the coal industry means Appalachia needs new economic solutions to undo decades of neglect. And the massive protests against racial discrimination last year brought more attention to environmental justice. 

We slow down and revisit some stories from 2020. An author discusses the last frontier of the farm-to-table movement: local flour. Researchers hope to restore the American chestnut with the help of genetic engineering. We take a hike that learn what to see and hear in winter. A car accident causes climate activists to hit "pause" and explore their feelings of anger and hope.

Local communities take climate action, with the help of a state program. Scientists combat an invasive insect killing hemlocks by introducing a new beetle. The sounds of nature are good for our health.  

The human costs of natural gas development: Residents say living next to the construction of a new natural gas power plant is causing distress, while neighbors of a planned liquified natural gas export terminal are worried about risks of explosions. Advocates lay out a new agenda for the Lake Erie Watershed.

Meat from wild game shot with lead bullets pose a risk to hunters, and families who eat the meat donated to food banks. The Trump administration will sell leases to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Can Biden stop it? How will Biden's climate plan fare in Pennsylvania? 

Seeking refuge from the upheaval of 2020 on a 70-mile hike. We also revisit stories about native plants in Pennsylvania: Saving a plant so rare, few have seen it; gardening with native plants; and how an invasive shrub and foraging mice could be bad for forests. Plus, residents speak out after an air inversion caused a string of bad air days in Allegheny County.

The call for a reimagined Civilian Conservation Corps to solve today's problems. Researchers work to develop a Lyme disease vaccine, while the tick's range increases, including urban parks. Pa bills would loosen rules for pollution reporting and conventional drilling. Federal charges against the Pittsburgh water agency.

What Biden’s win means for the environment and climate. Students hold a climate action summit, while youth in coal country contemplate their future without coal. Kids living near industrial plants in Allegheny County have nearly triple the rate of asthma of kids nationwide. DEP orders steep slopes along the Revolution pipeline be stabilized. A "Marshall Plan" for Appalachia.

An election post-mortem on hopes to flip the GOP-controlled Pennsylvania General Assembly to blue. The US Senate will likely stay under GOP control. So what could a (potential) President Biden do on climate and environment? What some Pennsylvania voters had to say about the environment.

The stark differences between Trump and Biden on the environment and climate are splitting voters. We hear from coal miners, natural gas industry supporters, environmentalists and farmers across Pennsylvania. The Environmental Voter Project is targeting non-voting environmentalists. They've turned a quarter of a million of them into regular voters since 2016. Could this be the year of the climate voter?

A sweeping new plan for restoration, recreation and commerce in the Ohio River watershed. This election season, we hear from voters on actions they want from lawmakers on climate change, and from an environmental group hoping to turn Pa.'s Republican-led legislature blue. Plus, climate change could already be impacting the safety of boats, barges and their operators on the the Ohio River.

Researchers are hoping a genetically modified American chestnut can help restore this giant to eastern forests. Others are opposed. Emergency planners in communities along the Mariner East pipeline say they've been left in the dark. A psychologist discusses how to cope with the anxiety of climate change. Plus news about radioactivity from gas wells. 

Why Trump keeps losing in court. How will the issue of fracking influence the 2020 election? A coal magnet who fought mine safety rules filed for black lung benefits. Allegheny County improves its handling of applications for air pollution permits. 

A rare bird, both male and female, is banded during fall migration. What a more conservative Supreme Court means for climate and environmental cases. How cities should prepare to welcome people escaping climate-related disasters. Plus, Ohio's complaint system for gas industry is 'impossible' to use.

Remembering the environmental legacy of RBG. Will massive wildfires finally convince the public climate change is real? Plus, one way to get office buildings to reduce their carbon footprints could be to make energy use public.  Proposed Ohio cracker plant to get ethane from Pa. driller.