Episodios

  • Episode for August 15, 2025: Deadly explosion at U.S. Steel coke plant
    Aug 15 2025

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    An explosion at a U.S. Steel coke plant outside of Pittsburgh killed two workers and sent 10 to the hospital. We'll hear a worker's first-hand account of the incident and what nearby residents in the Mon River valley are saying. The plant has a history of maintenance problems, explosions, and environmental violations. Climate change is making it harder to keep invasive plants away from recreational trails in Pennsylvania. Volunteers are working to make trail systems more climate resilient.

    The Environmental Protection Agency has canceled a $7 billion Biden-era program to build rooftop solar. Freshwater managers are warning that the millions of gallons of water that data centers use every day could stress public water supplies. Pennsylvania lawmakers want to ban certain firefighting foam that contains toxic PFAS. West Nile virus cases are climbing in Pennsylvania.

    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 support.

    Take action today so we can continue to keep you informed.

    Donate today.

    Or send us a check to: The Allegheny Front, 67 Bedford Square, Pittsburgh, 15203.

    And thanks!

    Más Menos
    30 m
  • Episode for August 8, 2025: Air pollution relief on hold
    Aug 8 2025

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    The Trump administration has paused new rules that would have reduced air pollution from steel mills drifting into surrounding communities. What advocates and residents who live near U.S. Steel plants are saying. Wildfire smoke from Canada is contributing to home-grown air pollution, and what we can do about it. A Pittsburgh-area library is loaning gas-free cooktops for patrons to test out.

    The families of four West Virginia children have sued a Pittsburgh-based gas producer over health effects from fracking. An annual road trip aimed at dispelling myths about electric vehicles stopped outside Pittsburgh. A new report from an environmental watchdog in Pittsburgh calls for stricter regulations on businesses that send pollution into rivers and streams. A Pennsylvania state law is coming to the rescue of abandoned boats on waterways and land.

    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 support.

    Take action today so we can continue to keep you informed.

    Donate today.

    Or send us a check to: The Allegheny Front, 67 Bedford Square, Pittsburgh, 15203.

    And thanks!

    Más Menos
    30 m
  • Episode for August 1, 2025: Throwing out the Endangerment Finding
    Aug 1 2025

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    Electricity prices are rising, and many are pointing the finger at the new energy demand created by data centers. An energy expert on where this is all heading. The Trump administration is moving to overturn the scientific finding that greenhouse gases are bad for public health. A Washington County gas company is facing criminal charges for a massive leak at a gas storage field. More than two years after the disaster in East Palestine, lawmakers are still trying to increase safety regulations on railroads. We tag along on a wildflower hike in the incomparable Dolly Sods Wilderness.

    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 support.

    Take action today so we can continue to keep you informed.

    Donate today.

    Or send us a check to: The Allegheny Front, 67 Bedford Square, Pittsburgh, 15203.

    And thanks!

    Más Menos
    29 m
  • Episode for July 25, 2025: What happens to solar now?
    Jul 24 2025

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    Solar installations on homes have been booming because of tax breaks from the Inflation Reduction Act. Now, those incentives are going away. Pennsylvania could also lose $156 million meant to help low-income people reduce their energy bills through solar power. But seventy acres of a former steel slag heap is almost cleaned up and ready to transform into a sea of solar panels. The price for energy is rising at the region's electric grid operator. Companies that mine metallurgical coal are now in line to receive a 2.5 percent tax credit thanks to President Trump's budget bill.

    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 support.

    Take action today so we can continue to keep you informed.

    Donate today.

    Or send us a check to: The Allegheny Front, 67 Bedford Square, Pittsburgh, 15203.

    And thanks!

    Más Menos
    30 m
  • Episode for July 18, 2025: Energy for data centers
    Jul 18 2025

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    President Trump was in Pittsburgh whipping up support for building data centers and the gas infrastructure to power them. But many worry that electricity ratepayers will get stuck with higher bills as demand for energy grows. A new online tool helps people who live near industrial facilities learn more about the chemicals and pollutants they’re being exposed to. Clean air quality advocates in Allegheny County held a virtual town hall meeting this week to push for increasing certain industrial operating fees.

    Cleanup work at a contaminated former dishware factory site in Falls Creek, Pennsylvania, is underway. A new study shows that small differences in temperature within a farm field can affect how many bees it attracts.

    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 support.

    Take action today so we can continue to keep you informed.

    Donate today.

    Or send us a check to: The Allegheny Front, 67 Bedford Square, Pittsburgh, 15203.

    And thanks!

    Más Menos
    29 m
  • Episode for July 11, 2025: AI's carbon footprint
    Jul 11 2025

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    Business and industry leaders are talking a lot about the possibilities of AI, but the technology also comes with environmental costs. A longtime critic of the natural gas industry is leaving his post at an environmental nonprofit and recommends changing laws or making new ones. A book that asks what we can learn from going back millions of years into Earth’s history that could help us survive the climate crisis. What do everyday people think about the climate-related extreme weather we've been experiencing?

    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 support.

    Take action today so we can continue to keep you informed.

    Donate today.

    Or send us a check to: The Allegheny Front, 67 Bedford Square, Pittsburgh, 15203.

    And thanks!

    Más Menos
    29 m
  • Episode for July 4, 2025: Swimmer's itch & fracking report anniversary
    Jul 3 2025

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    Swimmer's itch is a rash you can get from swimming in lakes, so researchers working in the Great Lakes have tried to eradicate it by treating ducks that carry the parasite that causes it. Nothing has worked, and people have started thinking about the problem of swimmer's itch differently. It has been five years since a Pennsylvania grand jury report slammed state regulators for not protecting residents from the impacts of fracking. Advocates want Governor Josh Shapiro to do more. Environmental groups will soon be canvassing Southwestern Pennsylvania on foot, by car, and by drone in an effort to find abandoned oil and gas wells.

    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 support.

    Take action today so we can continue to keep you informed.

    Donate today.

    Or send us a check to: The Allegheny Front, 67 Bedford Square, Pittsburgh, 15203.

    And thanks!

    Más Menos
    30 m
  • Episode for June 27, 2025: More energy, faster
    Jun 27 2025

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    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.

    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 support.

    Take action today so we can continue to keep you informed.

    Donate today.

    Or send us a check to: The Allegheny Front, 67 Bedford Square, Pittsburgh, 15203.

    And thanks!

    Más Menos
    29 m