Pennsylvania Legacies

Pittsburgh’s Climate Action Plan is taking shape. But how will the city achieve its vision of an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by mid-century? PEC’s Lindsay Baxter, who authored the original version of the plan in 2008, joins us.

Also: can learning to use a bow and arrow improve kids’ focus and concentration? Conversation with Christine Ticehurst of DCNR on the Bureau of State Parks’ youth archery program.

After months of training in state and county parks around central Pennsylvania, state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale is ready for the grueling Spartan World Championship obstacle race next month in Reykjavik, Iceland. We talk with Pennsylvania’s fiscal watchdog about the value of parks and trails, and how he uses the tools of oversight to fight for the environment.

A coalition of municipalities, local and state agencies, NGOs, and citizens is working on a plan to clean up Montgomery County's impaired Wissahickon Creek. But before seeking out answers for a problem as complex as this one, you need to be sure you're asking the right questions. In part 2 of our series on the Wissahickon Clean Water Partnership, Pennsylvania Legacies visits the Temple University lab of Dr. Laura Toran, who's helping to set the agenda by diagnosing the creek's many ills.

Pennsylvania is riddled with abandoned oil wells, and the state doesn’t have the resources to locate and plug even a fraction of them. That’s why DEP wants to make it easier -- and less risky -- for private actors to help out. Could overhauling the state's Good Samaritan law encourage voluntary remediation efforts?

With more than a million visitors a year, the Great Allegheny Passage is one of Pennsylvania's biggest trail development success stories. A group of state and local government officials rode the GAP this fall, along with community and business leaders from the area, to get a closer look at some of the economic benefits it's brought to communities along the route. We drop in on the tour on this week's show.

Three months into the fiscal year, Pennsylvania's state government has a "budget by default" after legislative talks broke down and the governor announced plans to securitize liquor revenues. How does the seemingly permanent stalemate impact environmental, conservation, energy, and recreation programs?

Then, a visit to the 2017 conference of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC), held this week in Pittsburgh. PEC co-sponsored the annual gathering of state and federal officials, energy companies, and environmental groups.

The Pennsylvania Outdoor Corps is providing muscle for scores of recreation and conservation projects statewide. But the program is also doing something else that's arguably even more important: cultivating a diverse new generation of citizen-stewards and future conservation professionals. DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn stops by to talk about the program.

The latest on Pennsylvania's ongoing state budget battle, and a roundtable discussion with members of DEP's Solar Future Stakeholders Group.

Lawmakers took another step this week toward what would be the biggest reduction in state funding for local environment and energy projects in Pennsylvania history. We’ll get an update from the state capitol.

Then, fall foliage season is getting off to an early start in Pennsylvania’s northern tier, and forecasters expect this year’s colors to be some of the most spectacular in recent memory. DCNR forester Ryan Reed joins us with tips for making the most of it.

A postcard from this summer's Bowie-themed "Rebel Rebel" river sojourn, and a conversation with Nick Kline of the Coalition for Green Capital on unlocking the economic potential of renewables and energy efficiency investments in Pennsylvania.