Last month, PEC submitted comments to the Maryland Air National Guard about its proposal to expand the Duke Military Operations Area (MOA) in Pennsylvania and New York and begin low-level flyover training in Cameron, Clinton, Elk, McKean, Potter, and Tioga counties. As proposed, units would b...

People need plants to live. Plants need carbon and nitrogen to grow. But there’s too much carbon in the atmosphere and not enough in the ground, especially on farmland degraded by generations of unsustainable practices, while rivers and streams are full of nitrogen that should be nourishing crops....

Thomas Dolan IV -- scientist, conservationist, and avid outdoorsman -- died on December 28, 2021 at the age of 98. He leaves a legacy of watershed advocacy and scholarly accomplishments including the identification of a new species of mayfly named after him. In addition to his leadership of organ...

Voting ends this Friday (January 14th) for the 2022 River of the Year award. The winner of the award receives funding for celebratory events, including a River of the Year sojourn. Presented each year since 1983, the River of the Year honor is so much more than a popularity contest. It celebrates Pe...

The Pennsylvania Environmental Council and Environmental Defense Fund commend Governor Wolf for vetoing Senate Concurrent Regulatory Review Resolution 1 and continuing the commitment toward reduction of harmful carbon dioxide emissions from the electric generation sector.  This is an important mark...

The anticipated Chester City connection to the East Coast Greenway is one step closer to reality, thanks to a $60,000 grant announced this week by the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The project is part of a $574,974 funding package DEP will distribute to support protection and ...

  This week legislation (Senate Bill 979) was introduced by Senator Sharif Street that would reform our state’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards to advance low and net-zero carbon electricity generation. This includes expanding requirements for generation from renewable sources...

State and federal agencies. Hunters and anglers. Elementary schools. A privately owned landfill. What do they all have in common? In northeastern Pennsylvania, they're working together to protect wildlife habitat and educate neighbors about local flora and fauna. Every year the Northeast Environm...

Research shows that outdoor activity can benefit your physical, emotional, and spiritual wellness, so it’s easy to understand why a health network like St. Luke’s would have an interest in the outdoors. After conducting a local health survey, researchers at the hospital found out that many peopl...

Interest in the outdoors skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, opening the doors for big investments in recreation, conservation, and climate. Most recently, billions in new funding for outdoor recreation and alternative transportation are now available with last month’s passage of the federal...

The Great Allegheny Passage is one of Western Pennsylvania’s major tourist destinations, and one of the country’s most popular rail trails. It receives over a million visits each year, and that number only continues to grow. Over its 150 miles from Cumberland, MD to Pittsburgh, the GAP has an en...

Voting is now open for the 2022 River of the Year. In November, watershed organizations had the opportunity to nominate their waterway for consideration. Any navigable waterway in Pennsylvania is eligible for the distinction. The nominations considered each waterway’s conservation needs and su...

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is now accepting applications for the 2022 Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence. “These awards bring much-deserved recognition to environmental stewards who, project by project, improve Pennsylvania,” said DEP Secretary Patric...

In November, PEC and POWR hosted the 2021 Statewide Conference for Watershed Organizations in State College. Held every other year, the conference provides an opportunity for watershed groups from across Pennsylvania to network and share their experiences with one another. Though attendance was smal...

From the formation of fossil fuel deposits to the tectonic ballet that gave us the Appalachian Mountains, geologic events occurring hundreds of millions of years ago made the Keystone State what it is today. These events also created the distinctive regional topographies by which DCNR's Conservation...

After last year's successful virtual dinner, the Northeast Environmental Partners -- the Pennsylvania DCNR, Pennsylvania DEP, PEC, PPL Corporation, Procter & Gamble Paper Products Company, and Wilkes University -- decided to host the 2021 Northeast Environmental Partnership Awards Dinner virtua...

Bartram’s Garden, the 2021 Recipient of PEC’s “Special Places” Environmental Partnership Award, is already an important resource for Southwest Philadelphia and the greater Philly area. Its riverfront campus includes historic buildings and gardens, an arboretum, and a community farm foc...

The first commercial oil well in the U.S. was drilled in western Pennsylvania in 1859. Since then, thousands of oil and gas wells have been drilled across the state. About 96,000 wells were active and producing as of last year, while, according to estimates from the Department of Environmental Prote...

On November 3rd, PEC hosted its 51st annual Environmental Partnership Awards Dinner – my first ever PEC dinner! I had big shoes to fill and was equal parts excited and nervous to pull off an event so integral to PEC. We knew that this year would have to look a little different from our ...

With the energy market changing, power-generation companies must reassess their business models. Rather than cut their losses and move on, Talen Energy of Allentown, PA, is looking at ways to keep facilities open by exploring other options for their plants, like battery storage and digital currency ...

Over my career as a watershed planner, I’ve had the opportunity to attend a wonderful array of professional conferences, seminars, workshops, and forums designed to help improve my technical knowledge and skills, promote the sharing of ideas with other professionals, visit new places and proje...

If you follow PEC, you know that we have been focused on decarbonizing Pennsylvania’s energy production in general and laser focused on getting the state to join RGGI – the Regional Greenhouse Gas initiative. Pennsylvania needs a multi-faceted, all-of-the-above approach to decarbonization. And ...

Above: President Joe Biden signs H.R. 2278, designating The September 11th National Memorial Trail Route, Wednesday, October 13, 2021, in the Oval Office of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)   On Wednesday, October 13, 2021, President Biden signed H.R. 2278...

The problem of plastic polluting the ocean has been a popular topic for a while. But until about 10 years ago, no one was studying the prevalence of plastics in fresh water. Dr. Sherri Mason, Director of Sustainability at Penn State Erie, was one of the first to look into plastic pollution in the Gr...

The second weekend in October, PEC hosted the 11th annual Environment Ride. The ride helps raise funds for for PEC’s conservation work, and attracts a small group of dedicated riders each year. This year’s route highlighted water quality issues in the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays, and Pennsylvan...

70 miles of seamlessly connected Circuit Trails is huge! A critical connection for the Circuit Trails is now under construction in Montgomery County that will connect the Chester Valley Trail (CVT) and the Schuylkill River Trail (SRT) in Norristown. From there, access to the Perkiomen Trail and ...

The mission of Penn State Extension is to bring the scientific and practical expertise of PSU researchers and faculty throughout the Commonwealth. But even with offices in every county, extension staff can’t be everywhere at once. That’s where master volunteers come in. PSU Extension's Master G...

In Pennsylvania, flooding presents one of the greatest climate threats. According to the Climate Impacts Assessment released by the Pennsylvania DEP this past spring, flooding is currently the highest-risk hazard facing the state. This risk will only increase as temperatures continue to rise. In...

Last Saturday, about 90 riders gathered at Black Moshannon State Park for the second in-person Public Lands Ride. The morning was brisk but it quickly warmed up into a gorgeous fall day, with leaves beginning to turn brilliant shades of yellow, orange and red up on the Allegheny Front. Riders could ...

Climate change is one of the major targets of the Biden Administration’s $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill, which would also fund social programs and additional infrastructure items not included in the smaller bipartisan infrastructure bill. While the bill has met several roadblocks, the at...

Pennsylvania Environmental Council · Policy Check-In One month ago, the state Regulatory Review Commission signed off on a rulemaking that would make Pennsylvania the newest member of RGGI, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative – the state's best opportunity to substantially reduce its ...

Riverwise, along with the Ohio River Trail Council, are currently midway through a campaign aimed at the preservation of a potential key piece of trail infrastructure in Beaver County known as the Blacks Run Bridge. While so many of the long-distance trails corridors PEC focuses on are linear in...

The Wilkes-Barre and Eastern (WB&E) Railroad was originally constructed in 1893 to carry coal, ice and passengers from the city of Wilkes-Barre in Luzerne County to Stroudsburg in Monroe County. It was one of the last railroads to be developed in the region, claiming to be the shortest route...

Philadelphia's trails took a beating from Hurricane Ida, and some will take months to recover. Two weeks after the floodwaters receded, we look at conditions along the Schuylkill River Trail with representatives from the City of Philadelphia and the Schuylkill River Greenways National Heritage Area....

If someone tells you they host a program for underserved and under-represented youth in Pittsburgh and Johnstown, PA that includes three days of river surfing, conservation, and filmmaking… you might have questions. For starters: what’s river surfing? This concept is probably better expl...

In August, Pennsylvania released its updated State Forest Action Plan. A requirement of the federal Farm Bill, these plans are completed by all U.S. states and territories every ten years to assess the condition of their forests and guide future management. This is Pennsylvania’s first comprehensi...

On June 19th, paddlers gathered at Riverside Park in Greenville, PA to celebrate the Shenango River as 2021’s River of the Year. The sojourn was hosted by the nominating organization, the Shenango River Watchers. Each year, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources works...

We celebrate Pennsylvania Trails Month with a preview of this year's PEC Public Lands Ride and the 11th annual PEC Environment Ride. Pennsylvania Environmental Council · A Ride for Everyone   As summer comes to an end, we’re looking forward to cooler weather, changing leaves, and Pe...

Today the state’s Independent Regulatory Review Commission concurred with the Environmental Quality Board, as well as the Department of Environmental Protection’s (“DEP”) Citizens Advisory Council, Small Business Compliance Advisory Committee, Environmental Justice Advisory Board, and Air Qu...