Environment & Energy Educational Opportunities For Students & Adults

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

Awards/Recognition

-- Master Watershed Steward Tim Matthews Aims To Make Conservation Family-Friendly In Susquehanna County  [PaEN] 

-- PA Parks & Forests Foundation Now Accepting Nominations For 2025 Parks & Forests Awards  [PaEN] 

Grants

-- DEP Accepting Applications From Public Schools, Childcare Facilities For Drinking Water Lead Testing, Lead Reduction Measures Starting Dec. 9   [PaEN] 

-- The Center Square: Grants Open For State’s Solar For Schools Program

-- PA Sea Grant: National Marine Fisheries Service & Sea Grant Fellowship Program Accepting Applications  [PaEN] 

-- PennLive: Cumberland County Conservation Sets Jan. 17 Deadline To Apply For College Scholarship Applications

Help Wanted

-- Interns Wanted: DEP, DCNR Now Accepting Applications For Paid Internships  [PaEN]

Upcoming Events

-- Lower Susquehanna Source Water Protection Partnership Holds Virtual Meeting Dec. 4 On Federal Disaster Response; Regulating Water Supplies; Roadside Springs  [PaEN] 

-- Interfaith Partners For The Chesapeake Bay Host Dec. 5 Webinar: Moving Towards Sustainable Consumption - Navigating The Holidays  [PaEN] 

-- Penn State Extension Hosts Dec. 9 Webinar On PFAS 'Forever Chemicals' In Land-Applied Biosolids - Research Update And Discussion 

-- Green Building Alliance, 2030 District Host Dec. 10 Webinar On PJM Electricity Price Increases - Why And What To Do?  [PaEN] 

-- PA Interfaith Power & Light Hosts Dec. 10 Webinar On How DEP, EPA Protect PA's Waterways  [PaEN] 

-- PA Office Of Outdoor Recreation Hosts Dec. 11 Webinar On Release Of 2023 Data Showing Tremendous Growth In PA’s Outdoor Recreation Economy  [PaEN]  

-- PA Solar Center Hosts Dec. 13 Webinar On Potential Changes Ahead Under New Republican Administration  [PaEN]

-- TribLive: Audubon’s Annual Christmas Bird Count Puts Focus On Our Feathered Friends 

-- PennLive: How To Participate In Audubon’s 125th Christmas Bird Count 

Programs/Information

-- Dept. Of Agriculture Encourages Pennsylvanians To Donate A Tree Through ‘Trees For Troops’ To Brighten Servicemembers’ Holidays 

-- Pike Conservation District: Sliding Into Winter!  One 12 Ounce Mug Of Salt Is All You Need To Prevent Ice From Forming On A 20 Foot Driveway  [PaEN] 

-- Penn Today: New Program Brings Penn And William L. Sayre High School Students Together at Cobbs Creek To Learn Environmental Science, Engineering In Philadelphia 

-- Wildlands Conservancy Nature Preserves Offer People With A Variety Of Abilities Access To Nature: ‘Being Able To Bring My Mom Here Has Just Changed My Life And Her Life’

-- The Nature Conservancy PA News: Landmark Year For Conservation In PA; Protecting PA Forests; Plan Your Adventure At Hauser Nature Center 

-- College Township Secures $300,000 DCNR Grant For Development of ClearWater Community Conservation Center; Next DCNR Grant Round Opens Jan. 21  [PaEN]

-- Observer-Reporter: Center For Coalfield Justice Protects Coal Miners, Environment 

-- NextPittsburgh: Uncovering The History Of Cement City And Clean Air In Donora

-- Discover NE PA: Preventing Wildfires With The DCNR Bureau Of Forestry  

-- PennLive: Try These PA Native Plants For Your Holiday Decorating

-- Children’s Book By Penn State Master Gardeners Teaches Kids About The Spotted Lanternfly 

-- Chesapeake Bay Journal - Ad Crable: In Pennsylvania, Researchers Hope Forest Farming Will Help Save Wild Leeks (Ramps)

-- Penn State Research Offers Guidance On Forest Farming Wild Leeks (Ramps)

-- PUC Cautions Electricity, Natural Gas Supply Shoppers Against Copycat Online Energy Shopping Websites  

Public Participation

-- DCED PA Crude [Oil] Development Advisory Council Meets Dec. 12 To Discuss Road Dumping Oil & Gas Wastewater; New EPA Methane Emissions Reduction Program; Other Updates  [PaEN] 

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - December 7 [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 91 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In December 7 PA Bulletin  [PaEN] 

-- DEP Awards $600,000 To 12 Community Organizations For Environmental Justice Outreach  [PaEN] 

-- Reminder: DEP Holds Dec. 17 Hearing On Orchard BJK Company Warehouse Chapter 105 Permit In Monroe County

-- DEP Invites Comments On Proposed Hazardous Sites Cleanup Consent Order For Penn State Benner Township PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ Contamination Site In Centre County  [PaEN] 

-- DEP Invites Comments On Draft Manual For Land Treatment Of Onlot Septic System Wastewater  [PaEN] 

-- DEP To Hold Jan. 22 Hearing On Title V RACT 3 Air Quality Permit For Carpenter Technology Plant In Berks County  [PaEN]  

-- PUC To Seek Public Comments On Settlement With Columbia Gas Concerning Welding Issues At Regulator Station In Beaver County  [PaEN] 

Mine Sinkhole Rescue

-- TribLive: Grief, Relief Felt As Westmoreland Woman’s Remains Recovered From Abandoned Mine Sinkhole 

-- TribLive: Coal, Once King In Pennsylvania, Leaves Behind Abandoned Mines That Pose Concerns 

-- TribLive Editorial: The Terrible Cost Of An Unknown Coal Mine 

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: Abandoned Mine Sinkhole Where A Westmoreland County Woman Died Is Unusual, But Sinkholes Themselves Are Not

-- WTAE: DEP Works To Prevent Another Abandoned Mine Sinkhole Tragedy

Background On Issues

-- DEP Sees ‘Very Significant Budget Gap’ In Funding Oil & Gas Regulation Program Due To Reduced Permit Fee Revenue  [PaEN]

-- PA Senate Republicans To Reintroduce Bills Limiting Citizen Rights To Appeal DEP Permit Decisions, Punish Communities That Take Steps To Protect Themselves Against Shale Gas Development Impacts  [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Nov. 30 to Dec. 6 - Abandoned Shale Gas Wells Doubled From Last Year; Failure To Comply With Court Order To Plug Conventional Wells; Abandoned Waste Injection Well   [PaEN]

-- DEP Issues 10 Violations To Big Dog Energy, LLC, Diversified Production LLC For Abandoning Shale Gas Wells; Violations For Shale Gas Abandonments More Than Doubled In 2024  [PaEN] 

-- DEP Issues Abandoned Well Violation To Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Well With Nearly Full Storage Tanks, Expired EPA Permit In Venango County  [PaEN]  

-- Independent Fiscal Office Reports Slight Increase In PA 3rd Quarter Natural Gas Production; Lowest Number Of New Shale Gas Wells Drilled Since 2008; Big Hole In DEP’s Budget   [PaEN]  

-- Apply Now! DEP Conventional Oil & Gas Methane Reduction Well Plugging Grant Applications Due Dec. 16; $44.4 Million Available - Only 10 Applicants Applied For 77 Wells So Far  [PaEN] 

-- Penn State Extension Hosts Dec. 12 Webinar On Carbon Reduction Credits In Oil & Gas Well Plugging  [PaEN] 

-- PUC: Natural Gas Distribution Companies Prepare For Winter - Gas Consumption Expected To Decrease 1.8%, Cost For Residential Customers To Increase 1%  [PaEN]

-- Marcellus Drilling News: EQT Hits Back At Greene County Landowners Claiming Water Contamination  [PDF of Article]  

-- E&E News/Politico: Williams Pipeline CEO Urges Republicans To Put FERC In Sole Charge Of Energy Permits, States Should Be Removed From The Process  

-- E&E News/Politico: PJM Boosts Natural Gas Ahead Of Wind, Solar In Contentious Electric Grid Interconnection Review Plan

-- PUC Enforcement Bureau Files Complaint Against Philadelphia Gas Works Over 2021 Natural Gas House Explosion; Alleging The Company Failed To Properly Investigate, Address Leaking Gas Pipeline  [PaEN]

-- WHYY: PUC Safety Investigators Claim Philadelphia Gas Works Failed To Prevent 2021 South Philly Gas Explosion

-- PUC To Seek Public Comments On Settlement With Columbia Gas Concerning Welding Issues At Regulator Station In Beaver County  [PaEN] 

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Creditors File Chapter 11 Involuntary Petition Against Cryptocurrency Miner Mawson Infrastructure

-- Inquirer Column: Gov. Shapiro Fast-Tracks Oil Refinery Redevelopment, Impacted Residents Call For Philadelphia City Council Hearings

-- Post-Gazette: Fracking, Clean Air Permits Dominate Allegheny County Board Of Health Meeting 

-- WESA: New Allegheny Health Director Turns To Air Quality, Black Infant Mortality

-- Kleinman Center For Energy Policy - John Quigley: Remote Sensing-Based Monitoring Networks For The Next Generation Of Energy, Environmental Policymaking  

-- The Heinz Endowments: Nonprofits, Philanthropy Create Infrastructure To Help Bring Nearly $1 Billion In Regional, Statewide Clean Energy Funding To Pennsylvania  [PaEN]

-- Allegheny Conference On Community Development: Statement On Eos Energy Storage $303.5 Million US DOE Loan Guarantee, Project AMAZE 

-- US DOE Announces $303.5 Million Loan Guarantee To Pittsburgh-Based Eos Energy For Next Generation Battery Energy Storage Systems 

-- WESA: Pittsburgh-based Eos Energy Secures $303 Million Loan To Scale Up Clean Energy Storage

-- Delaware River Basin Commission Declares Water Supply Emergency, Takes Steps To Protect Water Supplies  [PaEN]

-- Chesapeake Bay Journal - Karl Blankenship: Agriculture To Get Greater Voice In Chesapeake Bay Cleanup Effort 

-- Center For Coalfield Justice: Environmental Justice Communities Abandoned By Global Plastics Treaty Process  [PaEN] 

-- AP: Negotiators Fail To Reach Agreement On Plastic Pollution Treaty, Talks To Resume Next Year

-- Financial Times: UN Plastics Treaty Talks Fail After Oil Producers Block Output Limits

-- WVIA: Schuylkill County Residents Demand End To ‘Urine Smell’ From Surrounding Biosolids Facilities 

-- PittsburghUnionProgress.com: PennDOT Among 39 States In Federal Program To Lower Carbon Emissions In Road, Bridge Work

-- Erie Times: Rising Temperatures Expected To Melt Snow, Lead To Potential Flooding In Erie County

-- The Allegheny Front: That Huge Snowstorm? Welcome To A Warming Future

-- Pennsylvania’s Outdoor Recreation Economy Grows To $19 Billion In 2023, Supporting Thousands Of Jobs and Creating Economic Opportunity Across The Commonwealth  [PaEN]

-- PA Office Of Outdoor Recreation Hosts Dec. 11 Webinar On Release Of 2023 Data Showing Tremendous Growth In PA’s Outdoor Recreation Economy  [PaEN]  

-- PA Environmental Defense Foundation Files Court Action Challenging Use Of ATVs For Recreation In Northcentral PA State Forests Resulting In 2,000+ Miles Of Illegal ATV Trails  [PaEN] 

-- DCNR Awards More Than $372,000 In Wild Resource Conservation Program Grants To Help Protect Pennsylvania’s Native Biodiversity  [PaEN] 

-- The Center Square: Legislation Lifting Sunday Hunting Ban Still In Sight

-- LancasterOnline - Ad Crable: A Deer Camp Not Defined By Hunting 

-- Inquirer: As Hunting Numbers Fade, PA Families, Friends Keep their Camp Tradition Alive 

-- The Allegheny Front: Common Terns Successfully Breed At Presque Isle State Park For First Time In 60 Years 

-- TribLive: Have You Seen A Red-Bellied Woodpecker?  In Pittsburgh Region It’s A Possibility, Birder Says 

-- Living Landscape Observer Spotlights: Parks Stewardship Forum - Politics, Practice, Management Of Living Landscapes, Edited By Brenda Barrett and Eleanor Mahoney 

-- Inquirer: Laura Moyer, A Lancaster County Artist, Has Designed The Amazon Kids Gift Book This Year [With Forest Friends Fox, Bear, Raccoon, Mouse, Owl]

-- The Allegheny Front: In Sweden, Companies Are Cleaning Up Steel Production, One Of The World’s Biggest Carbon Problems

-- The Guardian: How Climate Risks Are Driving Up Insurance Premiums Around The US - Visualized

-- Financial Times: Insurance Losses From Natural Catastrophes Set To Top $135 Billion This Year

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: December 8, 2024]  PA Environment Digest