Episode for April 18, 2025: Executive orders and environmental rollbacks
Release Date: 04/18/2025
Episode for June 5, 2025: Circumnavigating the Great Lakes
The Allegheny Front
Sign up for so you never miss a story! 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. We head to the Allegheny River for a kayak tour with a unique twist, participants made art together. We’re independent and non-profit, and we don’t get money from WESA, WPSU or any other radio station. So we must turn to you, our listeners, for...
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Episode for May 30, 2025: River otters and mental health in ag
The Allegheny Front
Sign up for ! 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. Plus, Pittsburgh’s parks rank 15th out of 100 cities in the United States. With a hot summer forecasted, federal regulators are warning the margins between electricity supply and demand are shrinking. We’re independent and non-profit, and we don’t get money from...
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Episode for May 23, 2025: Hitting the trail
The Allegheny Front
Sign up for ! 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. From our archives, how a 67-year-old grandmother hiked the Appalachian Trail in just a pair of Keds. And the Brood 14...
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Episode for May 16, 2025: Reforesting mineland and environmental legislation
The Allegheny Front
Sign up for ! 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. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday over the state’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas...
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Episode for May 9, 2025: The rollercoaster of federal environmental grants
The Allegheny Front
Sign up for ! 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. Also, an Ohio Commission approved...
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Episode for May 2, 2025: Endangered species, black bears and solar at the airport
The Allegheny Front
Sign up for ! 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. We’re independent and non-profit, and we don’t get money from WESA, WPSU or any other radio station. So we must turn to you, our...
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Episode for April 25, 2025: Cement's impact on climate, sustainable fashion and student gardeners
The Allegheny Front
Sign up for ! 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. Proponents of sustainable fashion hope tariffs on cheap clothes from overseas will turn consumers on to thrift...
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Episode for April 18, 2025: Executive orders and environmental rollbacks
The Allegheny Front
Sign up for ! President Trump gives coal power plants an extension on complying with new mercury pollution standards. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is looking to roll back many other climate and environmental regulations faster than the normal process of appealing these rules allows. Invasive plant species like thorny multiflora rose are damaging Pennsylvania forests. A Pittsburgh natural history museum is taking a closer look at the problem. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has begun its annual Black Fly Suppression Program. Camping reservations are up at...
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Episode for April 11, 2025: From coal power plant to data center
The Allegheny Front
Sign up for ! The site of a recently retired coal plant in Indiana County is getting a new life as a data center. Plans have been scrapped for a controversial plastic recycling plant in Erie. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to boost coal production, but it may not do much to reverse the industry’s fortunes. A new book highlights the natural beauty of the Youghiogheny River. Nearly 2,000 top scientists, engineers and medical researchers signed a letter saying that the Trump administration is decimating the nation’s scientific enterprise. Federal funding for the...
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Episode for April 4, 2025: Pipelines, data centers and rooftop solar
The Allegheny Front
Sign up for ! Solar advocates fear a rider attached to a low-income solar bill in the PA House will upend roof-top solar. The former U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, responds to the Trump administration's plans to mine public lands for more energy resources. The owners of a recently demolished coal-fired power plant in Homer City, PA announced the site will become a data center powered by the largest natural gas plant in the country. The CEO of Appalachia’s biggest natural gas producer says more pipelines are coming as data centers expand and coal plants retire in West...
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President Trump gives coal power plants an extension on complying with new mercury pollution standards. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is looking to roll back many other climate and environmental regulations faster than the normal process of appealing these rules allows. Invasive plant species like thorny multiflora rose are damaging Pennsylvania forests. A Pittsburgh natural history museum is taking a closer look at the problem.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has begun its annual Black Fly Suppression Program. Camping reservations are up at Pennsylvania’s state parks and forests.
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