Environment & Outdoors
-
Get Your Stomping Shoes On: Spotted Lanternfly Season Is Here
Spotted lanternfly season is here once again, and while the last few seasons have seen fewer of them, it remains important to stay vigilant and continue stomping them out, writes Susan Phillips for WHYY. When it first arrived in Pennsylvania from Asia in 2014, scientists were worried that the invasive pest would not have any…
-
Closing of Local Landfill to Cause Falls Township to Face Budget Gap of $22 Million
Falls Township will need to make significant changes in the coming years to fix its finances as the local landfill, its largest revenue stream, closes, writes Jo Ciavaglia for the Bucks County Courier Times. To compensate for the $18 million the township receives annually from the decades-old landfill, it might have to implement higher property…
-
Celebrating World Green Roof Day: A Look at PECO’s Iconic Green Roof in Center City
Atop PECO’s headquarters in Center City lies an unexpected oasis that’s helping to shape a greener future for our region. Spanning more than 45,000 square feet, the PECO Green Roof is one of the largest of its kind on an existing building in Pennsylvania — and it’s doing more than just beautifying the skyline. It’s…
-
Delaware River Salt Intrusion Jeopardizes Regional Water Supply
The Delaware River Basin provides drinking water for around 14.2 million people, but that is now at risk due to the rising threat of saltwater intrusion in the Delaware River, writes for the Delaware Currents. Currently, the location of the salt front is normal for this time of year, but the issue comes from the…
-
Pennsylvania Bird Atlas Reveals Eagle Resurgence Across State and Philadelphia Region
The third iteration of Pennsylvania Bird Atlas shows eagles making an astonishing comeback across Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia region, writes Anthony R. Wood for The Philadelphia Inquirer. The atlas is a massive census tasked with identifying all bird species that nest and breed in Pennsylvania. It is a five-year project currently in its second year,…
-
Waste Hauler WM Touts Environmental Win from Fairless Hills Landfill Gas Effort
Waste hauler WM has been touting its efforts to extract gas from the Fairless Hills Landfill complex, calling the project an environmental win, writes Frank Kummer for The Philadelphia Inquirer. The property, spanning 6,000 acres, features four landfills and two lakes. WM recently began tapping two of those landfills for gas, drawing from 290 wells…
-
Philadelphia’s Navy Yard Earns Gold Star in Sustainable Development for Walkable Streets, Energy Efficiency
Philadelphia’s Navy Yard redevelopment has won a gold star, thanks to its energy-efficient, sustainable, and walkable design, writes Sophia Schmidt for WHYY. About a quarter of the former naval shipyard received the LEED Gold for Neighborhood Development certification. According to developers, it is the largest project nationwide to receive the designation. “Philadelphia deserves to be…
-
For Lenape Nation, Fighting for Delaware River Means Protecting Their Heritage
Lenape Nation, an Indigenous tribe in Pennsylvania, considers the Delaware River their ancestral home, a place where they often go to pay their respects, write David Schechter and Laura Geller for CBS News Philadelphia. Clan Mother Shelley Windamakwi DePaul and her son, Chief Adam Waterbear DePaul have spent most of their lives protecting the river.…
-
Eleven Dams Removed in Delaware River Basin to Boost Wildlife Habitat
Eleven dams were removed from the Delaware River last year, a move expected to improve conditions for local wildlife and reduce hazards for nearby communities, writes Octavia Feliciano for the Delaware Currents. A new report from American Rivers, a nonprofit tracking the removal of obsolete man-made dams, shows that Pennsylvania led the nation with 27…
-
Spotted Lanternfly Season Returns, Watch for Egg Masses to Destroy
Spring has arrived, bringing spotted lanternfly season, which will once again threatens plant and fruit gardens, along with trees and farms across the state, writes Damon C. Williams for the Bucks County Courier Times. Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has issued another spotted lanternfly quarantine alert for several counties, including Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia.…
-
Federal Lawsuit Aims to Set New Delaware River Water Standards, With Hopes of Saving Atlantic Sturgeon
A federal lawsuit seeks to compel the Environmental Protection Agency to set new water quality standards for a 38-mile section of the Delaware River, aiming, among other benefits, to help save the Atlantic sturgeon from extinction, writes Patrick Long for Yahoo! News. For decades, wastewater treatment plants have been releasing ammonia into the river, causing…
-
Chester County Honors Life of Fred de Long, Director of Willistown Conservation Trust’s Farm Program
Fred de Long, 55, of West Chester sadly passed away on Jan. 21 after liver transplant complications, writes Gary Miles for The Philadelphia Inquirer. de Long was the director of the Willistown Conservation Trust’s community farm program. He was also a teacher, writer, farmer, and mentor to many. He created the program for the Willistown…
-
Delaware River Crowned Pennsylvania’s River of the Year After Receiving Most Votes from Public
The Delaware River has earned Pennsylvania’s 2025 River of the Year title, securing the most votes in a public competition, according to a staff report from the River Reporter. The results were announced by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Pennsylvania Organization for Waterways and Rivers on February 13. “The Delaware River…
-
EPA Agrees to Sign Final Rule Within Five Months to Improve Delaware River Estuary Water Quality
The long-planned efforts to improve the water quality of Delaware River Estuary may finally be nearing realization, writes Meg McGuire for the Delaware Currents. The work has been ongoing since 2017, when Delaware River Basin Commission started a multi-year study covering monitoring, research, technical studies, modeling, and engineering analyses. Eight years later, the U.S. Environmental…
-
Newtown Artist’s Climate News AI Bot Delivers Updates and Critiques Future of Information
Artist Sarah Kaizar, a Newtown native, has developed AT Feed, an AI-powered climate news aggregator that curates highlights from current climate-related reporting and uses ChatGPT to condense them into concise 600-word summaries, writes Peter Crimmins for the WHYY. AT Feed is published biweekly on TheArtBlog, a Philadelphia arts news and reviews website. “It’s a little…
-
Bucks County Congressman to Co-Chair Delaware River Watershed Caucus
U.S. Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick will co-chair the Congressional Delaware River Watershed Caucus with State Rep. Mikie Sherrill, writes Dino Ciliberti for the Patch. The caucus safeguards the environmental and economic future of the Delaware River Basin. “For the past several years, I have been proud to lead the Congressional Delaware River Watershed Caucus with a…
-
Downingtown’s Miles Teller, Phoenixville’s Kevin Bacon Among Those Impacted by Wildfires
Film actor and Downingtown native Miles Teller has lost his family’s home to the Los Angeles wildfires, writes Bedatri D. Choudhury for The Philadelphia Inquirer. The Tellers lost their home to the Palisades Fire, one of four wildfires currently burning across the Los Angeles region. Teller’s wife Keleigh Teller posted several photos to Instagram on…
-
Delaware River Watershed Fish Population at Risk if Rainfall Does Not Increase
The protracted drought in the Delaware River watershed is affecting fish and wildlife populations, both positively and negatively, writes Octavia Feliciano for NJ Spotlight News. The Friends of the Upper Delaware River, dedicated to protecting and restoring the Upper Delaware River watershed, has expressed concern over the river’s brown and brook trout populations. “It’s a…
Founding Partners
Advertisement
Affiliate Partners
