Fossil Fuels

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week approved a permit for a toxic fracking wastewater disposal well named Sedat 4A, a highly controversial project in Plum Borough, Pennsylvania, rejecting residents’ concerns that leaks from the well could migrate and pollute other wells and groundwater. The decision comes as Pennsylvania faces a fracking disposal reckoning. Historically, […]

For a conference aimed at inspiring world leaders to dramatically ramp up their efforts to combat climate change, the United Nations’ Climate Ambition Summit was anything but ambitious. That’s the message from climate activists after the day-long special summit came to a close without any notable commitments from the nations most responsible for causing global […]

The Youngstown City Council approved a resolution on Wednesday night opposing an “advanced recycling” plant that would have used a process called pyrolysis to burn old tires to make steam for heating and cooling downtown buildings. The unanimous, 7-0 vote on the nonbinding measure sent an unequivocal message to SOBE Thermal Energy Systems that significant […]

This article was originally published by PublicSource, a nonprofit newsroom serving the Pittsburgh region. Sign up for its free weekly newsletters here. In Marianna, Pa., the headaches began just as soon as the drilling did.  Seated in her living room in the Washington County borough of around 500 on an afternoon in August, Kimberly Laskowsky flipped through […]

Midwesterners know Lake Michigan for its crystal-clear water, distinctive sand dunes and stunning views. But the lake has a legacy of pollution, too: Steel mills, oil refineries and other heavy industrial facilities dot its southwestern shoreline from Chicago through Indiana to the Michigan border.  Now, a burgeoning industry is hoping to accelerate the clean energy […]

NEW YORK — In one of the largest acts of civil disobedience to protest climate change in New York in a decade, more than 100 climate protesters were arrested on Monday after blockading the entrances to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where they called on financial regulators to curb fossil fuel financing.  Undeterred […]

Sometimes, when evaluating a river, size matters. If you need to supply 40 million people in seven states with drinking water, you would hope for a body of water that resembles the Colorado River—classified as an order seven watershed for its size and biological diversity. The Amazon river, the world’s largest, is an order 12 […]

GARY, Ind.—It has been a bittersweet homecoming for Maya Etienne. Her affection for her birthplace runs deep—despite the decline of the city’s once-robust steel-manufacturing industry. The chance to be close to family and friends again has been especially sweet—her two children, 14 and 12, became part of the town’s close-knit community since Etienne moved back […]

This story originally appeared in the Athens County Independent. It is reprinted with permission. TORCH, Ohio — Four fracking waste injection wells in Athens County have temporarily suspended operations by order of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which says the wells present an “imminent danger” to health and the environment. On May 1, ODNR […]