The Allegheny Front

Coronavirus: State park and forest facilities are closed, but trails are open. A pediatric infectious disease dr. has advice for staying safe outdoors. Pipeline and cracker construction is shut down, but farms and food processors are open. Spring is here, but is nature in sync?

Planting a rare spruce forest for one small inhabitant. One Pittsburgh area school district is the first in the state to pass a climate resolution. Hear how students made it happen. What's being done to bring climate science to students across Pa.  How a drop in oil prices may be good for Pa. shale gas.

The invasive spotted lanternfly is moving westward.  In Pennsylvania, questions about safety of private well water. West Virginians are also suffering from a lack of clean water. An author who looks with a critical eye at the past and future of Big Oil.

While consumers push for less plastic, experts say big policy changes will make a bigger difference. A climate scientist says 'no' to flying. Students push for Pitt to divest from fossil fuels. Will Pa. unions support a Democratic presidential candidate who opposes fracking?  A settlement for U.S. Steel's pollution and a criminal investigation over a pipeline explosion.

Some good news for a bat species in decline. Former US Fish and Wildlife officials speak out against decreasing protections for migratory birds. Calls for a 'just transition' for coal workers in West Virginia and a fine for a landfill that takes fracking waste.

What's the future of farming in Pa.? Environmentalists push for more monitoring of the petrochemical industry. A fear of winter camping turns into wonder. A final agreement with U.S. Steel to deal with air pollution.

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We head out on a hike for a different perspective on winter. Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf wants to fight climate change but this support of petrochemicals will make that harder to achieve. A new poll splits support in Pa. for a fracking ban. Plus, internal documents show the Trump administration tried to spin climate data about wildfires to promote logging.

The Allegheny Front's Kara Holsopple talks with journalist Justin Nobel about his investigative piece, "America's Radioactive Secret," on the dangers of radioactive oil and gas waste, published recently in Rolling Stone. The piece focuses on worker and community safety and health concerns over the wastewater that comes up out of fracked oil and gas wells. 

Removing dams in the Ohio River watershed improves safety and fish habitat, but some residents aren't on board. Shipping on the Ohio River has gotten more dangerous with climate change. Oil and gas workers are at risk from radioactive elements in fracking wastewater. 

The Trump EPA ends protections for nearly a fifth of the nation's streams and half of wetlands, proposes ending the requirement for environmental impact studies and public input for all kinds of projects. Plus, what's next for air quality in Allegheny County? A look at mercury pollution in the Ohio River.