The Allegheny Front

An investigation into the mental health impacts of air and water pollution and climate change in western Pennsylvania found alarming evidence that residents are likely suffering changes to their brains due to pollution. Reporting uncovered the growing gap in mental health care as more people are anxious about climate change.

Some people along the coast of New Jersey are saying no to offshore wind power. They worry about preserving the character and natural beauty of NJ beaches. We talk with the new leader of a clean air watchdog group in Pittsburgh. A professor wants to create a corridor throughout the Appalachians for elk. Our reporter escapes to the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail.

Climate change is making it harder to hunt and fish. An advocacy group wants hunters and anglers to speak out. Taking down dams to create a free-flowing Mahoning River is not without controversy. Consumer choices are hard when you want to do good for the environment. One expert says don't sweat the small stuff.

Metalico, a metal recycler on Neville Island in Allegheny County, is now the target of EPA. It has been a nuisance to the community for years. Pittsburgh has a new light pollution ordinance. An astronomer advocates for dark skies. Criminal charges against a pipeline company do little to spark action in the Pa. legislature.

Researchers say too many deer and invasive plants are threatening the long-term survival of Pa.'s forests. A filmmaker of a new documentary about a massive effort to clean up a Western Pa. river says it's a hopeful story. The author of a book about individual liberty and private property rights argues that signing a gas lease shouldn't be one of those rights.

More wind turbines in the ocean mean more renewable energy on the grid. But what's the impact on fisheries? Pennsylvania's attorney general files criminal charges for the Mariner East pipeline.  A new group is encouraging people to retire their lawnmowers and leaf blowers and plant native species. 

Transmission lines are key to more renewable energy, but some don't want them on their land. Students take to the streets for a climate strike. We get reaction to Pa.'s new Climate Action Plan. Volunteers clean up tons of trash along Pittsburgh's hillsides.

Protecting a pristine glacial lake in Erie County from invasive species takes painstaking work. An entomologist wants people to plant their gardens and yards with native species that feed the ecosystem. Pittsburgh opens two new parks, one with a public art installation that makes visible the history of water and flooding in a community.

The challenges of preserving the sacred ground at the Flight 93 National Memorial and the efforts to treat water pollution that plagued the site long before the plane crashed there on 9/11. A look back as a naturalist searched for reassurance in nature on September 12. We dig into the recent decision by a federal judge to throw out a Trump rule that stripped protections for many streams and wetlands.