Environment & Energy Educational Opportunities For Students & Adults

Opportunities to learn more about environmental and energy issues affecting Pennsylvania for students and adults--

Awards/Recognition

-- US Dept. Of Education Honors Green Ribbon Schools, Including PA Schools In Butler County, Reading, Philadelphia  [PaEN]

-- Post-Gazette: Rowan Elementary School Designated As Green Ribbon School

-- Warren Times: Winners Announced In Warren Conservation District Youth Art Contest 

-- Rachel Carson Building Peregrine Falcons See First Egg Hatches Of The Season; Connection To Rachel Carson [PaEN]

-- Post-Gazette - Mary Ann Thomas: Peregrine Falcon Population Likely Growing Statewide 

Grants

-- Dept. Of Agriculture Now Accepting Applications For Ag Conservation Research Grants; Ag Research Grants  [PaEN] 

-- Agriculture Highlights Stroud Water Research Center Ag Conservation Research  [PaEN]

-- LancasterOnline: State Invests $1.5 Million In Agriculture Conservation Research

Help Wanted

-- Inside Climate News: Thousands Of American Climate Corps Jobs Are Now Open; What Will The New Program Look Like?

Upcoming Events

-- Republican Herald: Hegins Twp. To Host Electronics Waste Recycling Event April 27 In Schuylkill County 

-- Independence Conservancy Holds Community Tire Collections In Allegheny, Beaver Counties Starting April 27  [PaEN] 

-- PittsburghUnionProgress.com: Allegheny CleanWays April 27 Event Needs Help To Clear Debris From Stormwater Grates

-- Asbury Woods Environmental Center In Erie Celebrates Arbor Day April 27 

-- Shapiro Administration, Attorney General Urge Participation In National Prescription Drug Take Back Day April 27  [PaEN]

-- Governor’s Advisory Council For Hunting, Fishing And Conservation Meets April 29

-- Southwestern PA Commission Water Resource Center Hosts April 29 Webinar On Challenges For Drinking Water Systems: PFAS 'Forever Chemicals,' Lead Service Lines  [PaEN]

-- Educators Invited To April 30 Online Meeting Of Southwest PA Environmental Literacy Coalition  [PaEN]

-- Attend The April 30 Southeast PA Electric School Bus Lunch & Learn Webinar  [PaEN]

-- US Geological Survey Hosts May 9 Webinar On New USGS Base Streamflow Forecasting Web Tool  [PaEN]

-- LancasterOnline - Ad Crable: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area Going Beyond Birders With Migratory Bird Day Activities May 11

-- PA Environmental Educators Host PA Environmental Justice & Education Summit May 13  [PaEN] 

-- Lancaster Conservancy, Partners Hold Lancaster Water Week June 7-15  [PaEN]

-- Join Master Watershed Stewards In Lancaster County For June 13 Waterways On Wheels Bike Tour  [PaEN]

-- Registration Open For Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council Level 1 Certification Training Beginning July 30  [PaEN]

-- Call For Proposals: 2024 Chesapeake Watershed Forum Oct. 18-20 In WV  [PaEN]

-- Shamokin Creek Restoration Alliance Organizing 2025 Abandoned Mine Pools As Resources Conference April 23-24   [PaEN]

Programs/Information

-- Heights Philadelphia, EPA Announce New Partnership Aiding Black, Brown And First-Generation Students’ Pathways to Environmental Studies & Careers  [PaEN]

-- 5 Pennsylvania Colleges, Join 3 From North Carolina In Joint Solar Energy Power Purchase Agreement From Facility In Kentucky [PaEN] 

-- Philadelphia Solar Energy Assn./DEP Publish New Go Solar And Save Toolkit For Schools  [PaEN]

-- LancasterOnline: Climate Summit At Millersville University Emphasizes Education, Empowerment

-- NorthcentralPA.com: EQT Gas Invites Applications For PA Qrew Camps For Students Grades 9-11 To Teach about Natural Gas Industry, Careers

-- Penn State Students Help PA Communities Track Carbon Footprints, Recommend Ways To Reduce Them 

-- Williamsport Sun: PA College Of Technology Students Excel At Toyota Green Grand Prix In Watkins Glen

-- EPA, Local Philadelphia Area Partners Celebrate Earth Week, Declare Trash Free Waters Begin With You!  [PaEN]

-- New Penn State Extension Master Gardeners Podcast Features Pollinator Habitat Certification Program  [PaEN] 

-- Hawk Mountain Sanctuary: Register Now For 2024 Summer Student Nature Camps

-- DCNR Daily Forecast Wildfire Danger Map 

Public Participation

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - April 27 [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 93 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In April 27 PA Bulletin  [PaEN] 

-- DEP Invites Comments On A Proposed Declaration Of An Exceptional Air Pollution Event Due To 2023 Wildfire Smoke Impacts  [PaEN] 

-- Beaver County Times: Canadian Wildfires Have Started, Will Smoke Descend On US Like Last Year? 

-- DEP Invites Comments On Renewal Of Waste Permit For Keystone Landfill In Lackawanna County  [PaEN]

-- Comments Invited By DEP On Stronghold Digital Mining Panther Creek Power Plant Title V Air Quality Permit Renewal   [PaEN]

-- DEP Sets May 16 Public Conference To Accept Comments On Rosebud Mining Permit For Cherry Tree Mine In Clearfield, Indiana Counties  [PaEN]

-- DEP Invites Comments On Draft Safe Drinking Water General Permit For Finished Water Storage Tank Painting

-- PennFuture: Learn How To Protect the Natural Environment With Public Participation Public Power - A Community Guide to Local Land Use Decision-Making In PA  [PaEN]

-- DCNR Invites Pennsylvanians To Complete Online Outdoor Recreation Survey  [PaEN]

Background On Issues

-- DEP Reports ZERO Shale Gas Well Permits Under Review; DEP May Have Only 20% Of The Revenue Needed To Fund Its Oil & Gas Regulation Program  [PaEN] 

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - April 20 to 26 - 2 Venting Shale Gas Wells; 16 More Conventional Abandoned Well Violations, 1 Shale Gas Well Abandonment  [PaEN]

-- Witness At Senate Hearing On Oil & Gas Wastewater Road Dumping Reports Her Home  Has Been Surrounded By Dumping; Dumping Again On The Upswing In 2024  [PaEN]

-- Clean Air Council/Sierra Club: PA Falling Behind In Conventional Oil & Gas Well Plugging Bonding; Burden Falls On Taxpayers  [PaEN] 

-- DEP Venting Abandoned Conventional Gas Well In Ross Twp. After Dangerous Gas Levels Detected In Home Displacing 2 Families In Allegheny County 

-- DEP Took Action On 769 Permits, 96% Within Permit Decision Deadlines; Conducted 1,706 Inspections; Responded To 6 Environmental Emergencies For Week Ending April 21

-- Inquirer Guest Essay: You Don’t Need To ‘Sacrifice’ Chester For Europe’s LNG Gas Security - By Lisa Badum, Member Of German Bundestag Since 2017 

-- Williamsport Sun Guest Essay: Lift The LNG Gas Permit Ban [On New Gas Export Facilities] - By David Callahan, Marcellus Shale Gas Coalition [Coalition Wants To Ship PA Gas To Our Competitor China ]

-- PennLive Guest Essay: It’s A Mistake To Pause US LNG Gas Export Projects - By PA Grange  [The Pause Is On NEW Export Projects, LNG Export Capacity Will Double During Pause; PA Shale Gas Coalition Wants To Export PA Gas To China, Our Competitor]

-- Bloomberg: Next US LNG Gas Export Plant To Begin Production In Mid-2024 

-- Public Source: EQT Says Fracked Gas Is A Climate Solutions, But Scientists Call That Deceptive Greenwashing

-- Inside Climate News: Encina Chemical Plastics Recycling Plant In Northumberland County Died After 2 Years; What Happened?

-- Gov. Shapiro Announces Commitment To Get 50% Of Electricity For State Government From Solar Energy Facilities In Pennsylvania  [PaEN]  

-- EPA Awards PA Energy Development Authority Over $156 Million To Deliver Residential Solar, Lowering Energy Costs, Advancing Environmental Justice Across Pennsylvania  [PaEN]

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: PA Plans To Roll Out Solar Access Plan With New $156 Million Federal Grant  

-- City & State PA: Exploring The Impacts Of Shapiro’s Energy/Climate Plans 

-- TribLive Guest Essay: Shapiro Addressing Climate Crisis Head On Through Good Transportation Policy - By Pittsburghers For Public Transit

-- Post-Gazette: JM Steel Doubles Steel Output For Solar Industry, With Plans For Continued Growth 

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: JM Steel To Double Capacity And Solar Energy Work At Growing Steel Plant In Leetsdale

-- PennLive Guest Essay: Warning: Climate Radicals Are Coming To Western PA - Oil & Gas In Crosshairs - By Sam Breene, Venango County Commissioners  [Conventional Oil Well Wastewater Spill Contaminates Venango County Village Water Supply]

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Coherent Announces 70% Of Its Electric Needs From Renewables

-- Appalachian Groups Send Letter To Congress Seeking Critical Investments In Appalachian Flood Resilience Programs And Workforce Development  [PaEN]

-- EPA Finalizes Suite Of Standards To Reduce Pollution From Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants

-- NPR: Coal And New Gas Power Plants Will Have To Meet Climate Pollution Targets

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Cheers, Jeers For EPA’s New Power Plant Pollution Reduction Rules

-- The Allegheny Front: New EPA Rules Cut Carbon, Mercury, Other Pollution From Coal, New Gas-fired Power Plants

-- PA Senate Republican Statement On New 'Disastrous’ New EPA Power Plant Pollution Reduction Rules

-- Sen. Yaw: Statement On New EPA Power Plant Emission Reduction Rules

-- The Daily Item: Republicans Con. Meuser, Sen. Yaw Call New EPA Rule On Coal An Assault On American Energy

-- Utility Dive: FERC: Extreme Winter Weather Electric Grid Performance Improves; 5 Other Takeaways From FERC’s Meeting 

-- The Guardian: US Seeing Surge Of Climate-Related Power Outages, Report Says

-- Post-Gazette Editorial: On Earth Day, We Express Gratitude For What We Share 

-- TribLive: KRUNK Movement Students Release Original Album With Earth Day Theme

-- EPA Celebrates Earth Week And Agency Efforts To Prevent Plastic Pollution

-- Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority Marks Milestone Of Removing 11,000 Lead Water Service Lines

-- DCNR Highlights Stream Buffer Role In Improving Habitat, Water Quality At Big Elk Creek State Park, Chester County  [PaEN] 

-- DEP, DCNR, Agriculture, Fish Commission, Local Partners Celebrate Turtle Creek Watershed Stream Restoration, Investments, Water Quality Improvements  [PaEN]  

-- The Daily Item: DEP, Partners Celebrate Turtle Creek Stream Restoration

-- WNEP: Improving Water Quality In Turtle Creek Watershed, Union County

-- WVIA: Turtle Creek Waterway Restored In Union County

-- DEP Releases Final Land Application Of Manure Supplement To Manure Management For Environmental Protection Manual  [PaEN] 

-- Chesapeake Bay Journal - Ad Crable: Large Woody Material Stream Restoration Aims To Improve Stream Ecosystems In Pennsylvania 

-- PPL Utilities: Nurturing Nature Preserving Ecosystems Through The Lancaster Conservancy

-- WHYY: ‘Catch The Rain’ Program Helps Residents Prevent Stormwater Runoff In White Clay Watershed

-- Chesapeake Bay Foundation: Lancaster Gets Early Earth Day Gift: 100 Trees Planted At Dart Corporation Property  [PaEN] 

-- Tribune-Democrat: Virginia Teens, Local Groups Volunteer To Plant Trees At Flight 93 Memorial

-- Republican Herald: Pottsville Tree City USA 36th Anniversary Observed In Greenwood Hill

-- Republican Herald: The Liveliness Of Trees Celebrated At Arbor Day Program In Charles Baber Cemetery

-- Altoona Mirror: Hollidaysburg Borough Celebrates Arbor Day

-- Williamsport Sun: 135-Year Old Brandon Park Is Sunny Backdrop For Williamsport’s Arbor Day Ceremony

-- A Dozen Nonprofit, Agency, Municipal Environmental Experts Team Up To Tackle Stormwater Runoff In The Lake Erie Watershed, Starting April 25  [PaEN]

-- Erie Times: Report: Great Lakes Beaches, Including Presque Isle, Suffering From Plastic Pollution

-- TribLive Guest Essay: Federal Farm Bill Conservation Funding Helps Keep Family Farms Viable - By Tom Croner, co-owner of T.Rich Inc. in Somerset County

-- WHYY: My Climate Story: Philly Students Take Science From Abstract To Personal

-- Reading Eagle: Berks Nature Nonprofit Has Evolved Over Its 50-Year History 

-- MCall: C.F. Martin Produces Whale Of A Guitar For Earth Day As Lehigh Valley Company Continues Environmental Tradition

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: PJM Electric Grid Has Significant Decline In Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen Oxide, Sulfur Dioxide Emissions Since 2005 

-- Scranton Times: Author Diane Ackerman Sheds Light On Environmental Factors And Mental Health During Earth Day Program

-- Organic Agriculture Transition Expert Luke Howard Joins Rodale Institute To Lead Agricultural Land Revitalization Project In South Central PA  [PaEN]

-- TribLive Guest Essay: Wildfire Smoke Is Coming For US Again, We’re Not Ready - By Mark Gongloff, Bloomberg 

-- Audubon Society: Critical Funding And Advocacy For The Delaware River Watershed

-- PennLive: Lights Out Harrisburg, Here Come The Birds

-- Williamsport Sun - Bill Bower: Reflections In Nature: Many Birds Have Begun Building Their Nests

-- WHYY: Several Birds Named After Philadelphians Will Be Renamed As Part Of Effort To Stop Honoring Enslavers, Racists

-- Observer-Reporter: Keep It Native - Native Plants Benefit Local Ecosystem

Visit the  DEP Calendar of Events;  PA Parks & Forests Foundation’s Events webpage and DCNR’s Calendar of Events for activities happening near you.

Visit DEP’s Teaching Green webpage to learn about more environmental education resources.

Visit the PA Environment Digest Calendar Of Events for more opportunities.

[Posted: April 28, 2024]  PA Environment Digest