Environment & Energy Educational Opportunities For Students & Adults

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

Awards/Recognition

-- PA Envirothon Team From Penncrest High School In Delaware County Placed 4th In the 2026 International NCF-Envirothon Competition!  [PaEN]  

-- TheDerrick.com: Oil City Chapter Of The Izaak Walton League Celebrated Its 100th Anniversary With EnviroBash Outdoor Show At Waltonian Park [PDF of Article] 

-- Master Watershed Steward Volunteer John Dubel From Cameron County Appointed To DEP Statewide Water Resources Committee  [PaEN] 

-- Future Master Watershed Steward Club At York Academy Growing Next Generation Of Watershed Stewards - By Roni Reed, Master Watershed Steward & York Academy Regional Charter School Science Teacher  [PaEN] 

-- WNEP: Celebrating 100 Years Of Lake Wallenpaupack Recreation, Hydroelectric Generation

Grants

-- PA Capital-Star: PA Solar For Schools Program Renewed For Third Year To Cut Energy Costs

-- DCED Approves $1.6 Million In Solar For Schools Grants To Help 3 School Districts Reduce Their Energy Bills In 6 School Buildings Using Solar Power  [PaEN]  

-- Dept. Of Agriculture Encourages Farmers To Apply For $13 Million In Resource Enhancement & Protection Farm Conservation Tax Credits

-- State Conservation Commission Accepting Applications For PA Most Effective Basins Public-Private Partnership Funding To Provide Assistance To Implement Farm Conservation Practices  [PaEN] 

-- Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader: PPL Electric Helping Customers Turn Old Appliances Into Cash And Energy Savings

-- TribLive: Millions Sign Up For President’s $1,000 Baby Accounts, Families Still Waiting For Payments

Help Wanted

-- Penn State Geography Researchers Want Your Help To Develop Tool To Help Public Better Identify Threats To Health, Environment From Oil & Gas Development  [PaEN] 

-- Penn State Researchers Seeking Volunteer Biosolids Workers To Help With Research On PFAS 'Forever Chemical' Exposure In Handling Biosolids  [PaEN] 

-- WITF: PA Northern Harrier Project Seeks Public’s Help To Protect Threatened Bird

-- Help Wanted: Armstrong County Conservation District - AmeriCorps Environmental Stewardship Position  [PaEN]  

-- Help Wanted: PA Council Of Trout Unlimited - Executive Director  [PaEN]

Upcoming Events

-- PA Assn. Of Environmental Educators Workshops: Dare 2B Tick Aware; Snorkeling; Conserving Caves; Much More! 

-- Daily American: Somerset’s Quecreek Mine Rescue Commemorated 24 Years Later On July 28

-- Lehigh Valley-based Wildlands Conservancy Highlights Upcoming Experiences, Events; Farm To Table Dinner; PreK Pathfinders; Wild Mushroom; Song Birds; Invasive Species; Stream Team Work Days; Summer Camps 

-- Registration Open!  Delaware River Watershed Forum Sept. 29-30, University Of Delaware

-- Registration Open! Keystone Trails Association Returns To The Susquehanna Riverlands With 2026 Keystone Hiking & Outdoor Weekend Oct. 23-25 

-- 2027 Keystone Coldwater Conference Set For Feb. 26-27 In State College  [PaEN]

Public Participation

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - July 25 [PaEN] 

-- PennLive - Charles Thompson: Public Can Weigh In On Three Mile Island Nuclear Data Center Power Plant Restart During July 28 NRC Meeting 

-- DEP To Adopt Regulations Limiting Methane Emissions From Conventional Oil & Gas, Shale Gas Infrastructure; Will Outline Approach At Aug. 6 Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee Meeting  [PaEN]  

 -- DEP Invites Comments On Chapter 105 Permit For Appalachia Midstream Services Natural Gas Pipeline In Elkland Twp., Sullivan County  [PaEN]  

-- DEP Invites Comments On MarkWest Liberty Midstream Project To Daylight 4 Natural Gas Pipelines To Prevent Damage From Longwall Coal Mining In West Finley Twp., Allegheny County  [PaEN]

-- DEP Invites Comments On Eastern Gas Transmission & Storage Daylighting Project For 30-Inch Natural Gas Pipeline To Prevent Longwall Coal Mining Damage In Greene County   [PaEN] 

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Approved 21 Shale Gas Well Pad Water Use General Permits In June; 188 In 2026  [PaEN] 

-- DEP Posted 54 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In July 25 PA Bulletin  [PaEN] 

-- Governor’s Office Published Regulatory Agenda, DEP Published Non-Regulatory (Technical Guidance) Agenda To Provide Opportunities For Public Involvement  [PaEN] 

-- DEP Invites Comments On Stormwater Permit For Milesburg 230kV Transmission Line Upgrade To Support Data Center Development In Centre County  [PaEN] 

Forests - Wildfires

-- DEP Declares Monday, July 20 A Code Orange Air Quality Day In Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington, Westmoreland, Somerset Counties Due To Wildfire Smoke  

-- KDKA: Wildfire Smoke Rolls Into Pittsburgh Area Today As Scattered Storm Chances Loom

--  WESA: Pittsburgh Air Pollution Levels Last Week Hit Second-Highest All Time Since Measuring Began In 1999 Due To Wildfire Smoke

Programs/Information

-- Spotlight PA: PA Budget Relaxed Standard For Publicly Reporting Test Results For Lead In Schools; Issues With Law Go Much Deeper

-- Erie Times: Electric Airplane Lands In Erie To Recharge

-- Reading Eagle: Railbike Tours Return To Colebrookdale Railroad; Tours Departing From Pottstown

-- TribLive: Why Western PA’s Rainfall Is Getting More Intense And Overwhelming Infrastructure: Climate Change is Driving Heavier, Localized Downpours 

-- Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader Guest Essay: Who We Become - After The Flood Water Recedes - By Brittany Stephenson, Luzerne County Councilmember

-- NextPittsburgh: Some Pittsburgh Neighborhoods Are 5 Degrees Hotter Than Others - Why? 

-- Lancaster Clean Water Partners Blog: Clean Water Conservation Projects Weather Heavy Storms In Lancaster County  [PaEN] 

-- Fox43: Lancaster Clean Water Partners: Over 100 Local Organizations Come Together To Improve Water Quality 

-- Three Rivers WaterKeeper Releases 2025 State Of Our Waters Report In Pittsburgh Area, Western PA  [PaEN] 

-- Delaware RiverKeeper: Presentations Available From 2026 Watershed Congress [Videos]

-- Inquirer Online Feature - Frank Kummer, Others: Join The Inquirer For A Ride Up The Delaware River - Islands In The Stream

-- WHYY: Anti-Illegal Dumping Group Launches Crowdsourced Map Of Philadelphia’s Worst Sites 

-- City & State PA: Philly Neighborhood Organizers Seek To Scale Illegal Dumping Mapping, Prevention

-- Erie Times: Bald Eagle Released Back Into Wild At Erie Bluffs State Park By Tamarack Wildlife Center

-- KDKA: Young Eagle Dies From ‘Catastrophic’ Injuries After Likely Getting Hit By Train In Beaver County 

-- York Daily Record: Black-Crowned Night Heron Entangled In Fishing Line Rescued From Tree At Lake Redman Reservoir

-- TribLive: West Nile Virus Triggers Pesticide Spraying In 6 Allegheny County Neighborhoods

-- Erie Times - Brian Whipkey: Select PA Hunters Get New Pilot Way To Test Deer For Chronic Wasting Disease

A.I./Data Centers

-- In Case You Missed It: A.I./Data Center Articles - NewClips From Last Week - July 27  [PaEN] 

-- WESA - Rachel McDevitt: A.I. Data Center-Driven Electricity Demand In PA, Surrounding States Outstripping Supply, Keeping Prices High

-- WHYY - Susan Phillips: As Utility Rates Continue To Rise In PA, Coalition Is Pushing For Renewables To Rein In Costs

-- Utility Dive: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Fails To Shield PJM Consumers From Data Center Power Transmission Costs Says PA Consumer Advocate, 4 Other State Ratepayer Advocates 

-- Utility Dive: PJM Market Monitor: Data Centers Drove $6.3 Billion In July PJM Generation Capacity Auction Costs; Over Last 4 Auctions - $29.4 Billion In Costs

-- PA Coalition Launches Building A Brighter PA To Lower Energy Bills, Build A Clean-Energy Economy Over The Next 4 Years  [PaEN]

-- Inquirer: Gov. Shapiro Plans To Take More Executive Action To Better Regulate A.I. Data Centers In Coming Weeks Since Senate Republicans Failed To Act

-- The Allegheny Front: Where Pennsylvania Stands With Regulating 80 A.I. Data Center Proposals

-- Spotlight PA: PA Lawmakers Leave $2 Billion A.I. Data Center Sales Tax Exemption Untouched In PA Budget

-- President Expands Ratepayer Protection ‘Pledge’ For A.I. Data Centers To Pay Full Cost Of Energy, Supporting Infrastructure  [PJM Ratepayers Already Paying $29.4 Billion In Added Electricity Costs]  [PaEN] 

-- PennLive: PPL Signs Pledge To Protect Consumers From Higher Electric Bills Due To A.I. Data Center Demand Saying It Already Follows Principles [PPL Ratepayers Now Paying For Grid Upgrades For Data Centers, Much Higher Power Bills Due To Spiking Demand]

-- The Center Square: PPL Electric Condemnation Of Land For Transmission Lines Needed To Feed A.I. Data Centers Triggers Stress, Anxiety In Luzerne County 

-- Utility Dive: Natural Gas Power Generation Decreased 4% In 2025; Coal-Fired Power Plant Generation Increased 13%; Wind & Solar Generation Increased 3% and 34% 

-- Utility Dive: GE Vernova Natural Gas Power Turbine Backlog Now 116 GW And Growing; Ordering Now For 2031

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Pittsburgh-based Exus Renewables Secures $356 Million For 2 Wind Projects In Cambria County As Demand From Data Centers Accelerates

-- Tribune-Democrat: Exus Renewables Closes On Wind Energy Facility Financing For Cambria County Project

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Mainspring Linear Generator Secures State Funding For 600-Job Plant Near Pittsburgh

Background On Issues

-- DEP To Adopt Regulations Limiting Methane Emissions From Conventional Oil & Gas, Shale Gas Infrastructure; Will Outline Approach At Aug. 6 Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee Meeting  [PaEN] 

-- The Conversation: Pennsylvania Roads Are Being Coated In Radioactive Oil & Gas Wastewater - New DEP Well Permit Allows Uncontrolled Use  [PaEN]  

-- DEP: Equitrans Water SVC LLC [EQT] Suffers Another Contaminated Water Release From Buried Shale Gas Wastewater Pipeline In Aleppo Twp., Greene County  [PaEN]

-- The Well Done Foundation: The Night The Well Done Foundation’s Well Plugging Mission Began  

-- MotherJones.com: How Fossil Fuel Companies Made Us Believe Natural Gas Was Clean  

-- Utility Dive: Natural Gas Power Generation Decreased 4% In 2025; Coal-Fired Power Plant Generation Increased 13%; Wind & Solar Generation Increased 3% and 34% 

-- PA Capital-Star: PA Solar For Schools Program Renewed For Third Year To Cut Energy Costs

-- DCED Approves $1.6 Million In Solar For Schools Grants To Help 3 School Districts Reduce Their Energy Bills In 6 School Buildings Using Solar Power  [PaEN]  

-- AP: President’s Administration Seeks To Eliminate Radiation Safety Foundational Principle Of ‘Low As Reasonably Achievable’ Standard For Regulating Radiation Exposure For Nuclear Power Plants, Hospitals, Academic Institutions

-- The Center Square: Proposed Rail Line To Move Trash Thru Elk, Jefferson Counties Draws Opposition From Local Officials, Residents

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: July 27, 2026]