Infrastructure

"On a rainy morning, Mike Frederick showed off the Belle Vernon Municipal Authority’s sewage treatment plant, about 30 miles south of Pittsburgh."

"Tech companies’ use of PFAS gas at facilities may mean datacenters’ climate impact is worse than previously thought"

"Datacenters’ electricity demands have been accused of delaying the US’s transition to clean energy and requiring fossil fuel plants to stay online, while their high level of water consumption has also raised alarm. Now public health advocates fear another environmental problem could be linked to them – PFAS “forever chemical” pollution.

"Globally, investors are pouring more money into renewable energy than ever — even as they pull back on spending in the U.S."

"For much of the 20th century, a sprawling complex in the desert of southeastern Washington state turned out most of the plutonium used in the nation’s nuclear arsenal, from the first atomic bomb to the arms race that fueled the Cold War. Now, after decades of planning and billions of dollars of investment, the site is turning liquid nuclear and chemical waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation into a much safer substance: glass."

"The state repealed the utility’s 2030 emissions target in July. Duke’s response? A plan to slash solar and wind, double down on gas — and burn more coal."

"White House budget director Russ Vought on Wednesday said the Trump administration will cancel almost $8 billion in federal funding for green projects, directly targeting 16 states that did not vote for President Donald Trump in the presidential election."

"In recent years, Pennsylvania regulators have tried to clamp down on roadway spreading of tens of millions of gallons of oil and gas “brines,” high-salt liquids that can be laced with toxic metals and radioactive material. The industry is pushing back."

"The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it planned to relax a Biden-era rule that requires grocery stores, air-conditioning companies, semiconductor plants and others to sharply and rapidly reduce some powerful greenhouse gases used in cooling equipment."

"Researchers across the United States and the world who raced to protect climate data, public reports and other information from the Trump administration’s budget cuts, firings and scrubbing of federal websites are launching their own climate information portals."

"A project in western Alaska is being fast-tracked in a process that has not yet included legally required consultations with Inupiaq communities."