Never miss a story: Sign up for our newsletter!

When the Army Corps of Engineers removed a dam on the Monongahela River a couple of years ago, the water level dropped more than some businesses expected. Researchers are working on buoys that combat harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie by releasing an algaecide. Council members in a Jefferson County borough are putting a nearly six-month pause on data center development, and state lawmakers have passed three measures this week to pump the brakes on data center development. Environmental groups say recent investments announced by Nippon Steel for its US Steel plants in the Pittsburgh area won't do much to improve the region's air quality. How restaurants are managing recycling, composting and sustainability, and training customers along the way.

We're independent and non-profit, and we don't receive funds 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.

Never miss a story: Sign up for our newsletter!

Opposition to data center development has been growing in Pennsylvania. We hear from an investigative reporter on Governor Shapiro's office offer to streamline the permitting process for Amazon. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is accepting public comment on a proposed water pollution permit for a coal mine planned in western Pennsylvania.

Researchers are bringing back a nearly extinct beetle that buries dead animals. Eastern wildfires destroy thousands of acres of land every year. We take a closer look at the 100-year old fire tower system that identifies wildfires early to help prevent damage. A coalition of conservation groups in Westmoreland County is looking for property owners in the Laurel Highlands to help monarch butterflies.

We're independent and non-profit, and we don't receive funds 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.

Never miss a story: Sign up for our newsletter!

This week, we look at the life and legacy of Henry David Thoreau, who has been called the godfather of the environmental movement. We interview the directors of a new Ken Burns documentary about Thoreau, his evolution as a thinker, philosopher of the natural world and abolitionist.

Affordable solar power could be coming to a balcony near you. That is, if Pennsylvania lawmakers legalize so-called "balcony solar." A festival celebrating frogs returns to Central Pennsylvania. Nippon Steel's new investment in U.S. Steel's Pittsburgh-area plants prompts questions.

We're independent and non-profit, and we don't receive funds 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.

Never miss a story: Sign up for our newsletter!

In this special bonus episode, we're talking with the co-directors of the new Ken Burns documentary, Henry David Thoreau.

Thoreau has been called the patron saint of early environmental thought in the U.S., from his transcendentalist writings of the mid-19th century to his decision to live a secluded life at a cabin on Walden Pond in Massachusetts.

The three-part film, now streaming on pbs.org, the PBS app, and on Prime Video, examines Thoreau not just through the lens of American history, but it also asks what his work means to us in our current era.

The film was directed by brothers Erik Ewers and Christopher Loren Ewers, both frequent collaborators with Ken Burns, who is an executive producer along with Don Henley.

The Allegheny Front's Reid Frazier spoke with the Ewers brothers about the film.

We're independent and non-profit, and we don't receive funds 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.

Never miss a story: Sign up for our newsletter!

Passenger pigeons were once the most abundant bird in North America. But in 1914, they went extinct. Most of their last nesting grounds hugged the Great Lakes. What was it like to experience these birds? And what are we left with when we lose a species? This special episode is from Points North, a podcast about the land, water, and inhabitants of the Great Lakes.

We're independent and non-profit, and we don't receive funds 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!

Sign up for our newsletter!

On this week's episode: Pollution from the Pittsburgh airport has found its way into a nearby stream. Scientists are looking into how PFAS forever chemicals got there and what happens next. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it would give Pennsylvania nearly $40 million to address PFAS contamination in drinking water; at the same time the agency also said it would roll back PFAS regulations. Researchers have found a link between the temperature outside and kidney disease. New railroad-safety reforms have made headway in Washington D.C., three years after the rail disaster in East Palestine, Ohio. Governor Josh Shapiro is making the rounds to talk about his policies on data centers after releasing final standards for the industry. In Pittsburgh you can drop off your food waste at city-run farmers' markets.

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!

Sign up for our newsletter!

On this week's episode: This week, a special show of award-winning and recognized stories. What advocates and residents who live near U.S. Steel plants are saying about the Trump administration's policies on the pollution drifting into their communities. A nature preserve is dedicated to saving an ancient creature that lives in our region: the hellbender salamander. The Monongahela River has been – and still is – an industrial river. That doesn't stop people from using it for recreation, like swimming.

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!

Sign up for our newsletter!

On this week's episode: The U.S. Forest Service is planning a massive overhaul that includes closing research stations in Pennsylvania. What's at stake? Some residents and environmental groups oppose the Pennsylvania Turnpike's proposal to reroute the highway over wildlife habitat. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania are turning food waste like egg shells and mango skins into building materials. Fruit growers across Pennsylvania have experienced partial to total losses of their 2026 crops. Pittsburgh's 2030 District says its building owners are beating their climate goals ahead of schedule. A new report finds Pennsylvania's use of solar energy is on the rise, but the state still falls behind the rest of the country in putting more renewable energy on the grid.

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!

Sign up for our newsletter!

On this week's episode: A new online tool calculates how much Pennsylvanians could save by switching from a gas-powered car to an EV. As Trump administration policies are impacting funding for scientists, some are choosing to move overseas. Pennsylvania is getting a federal grant to install a geothermal project at an existing natural gas site. Pennsylvania's utility regulators are proposing guidelines that aim to protect rate payers from the proliferation of large data centers. A teenager wants to use AI to help neighboring farmers with spotted lanternflies.

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!

Sign up for our newsletter!

On this week's episode: Coke from U.S. Steel near Pittsburgh fuels the company's steelmaking in Indiana. But there's a movement afoot to make greener steel without coal. The heavy industry along Lake Michigan's shore is impacting the surfing culture there. An environmental group issued a 'notice of intent to sue' the Neville Chemical Company for polluting the Ohio River near Pittsburgh. A watchdog warned Pennsylvania lawmakers that while there is currently enough energy supply on the grid, the buffer needed to prevent blackouts could shrink in the coming years.

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!