Pennsylvania Legacies

Latest Episodes:

A Seat at the Table Jan 12, 2024

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The Environmental Protection Agency's National Environmental Youth Advisory Council (NEYAC), launched in November of 2023, is EPA's first advisory committee comprised exclusively of teens and young adults. The idea came, in part, from a Pennsylvania high schooler. We talk with Grace Ziegmont of York County, who helped to pitch the idea last year at the White House.

Throughline Dec 15, 2023

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Throughout Pennsylvania's history, there's a throughline of progress on the environment and conservation that begins with the vision and hard work of dedicated people. In our final episode of 2023, outgoing president Davitt Woodwell reflects on his 30+ years at PEC with thoughts on working with partners, taking risks, and staying positive in the face of climate change.

Bonus: Trails Together Nov 23, 2023

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The Three Rivers Heritage Trail in Allegheny County extends more than 33 miles on both banks of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers. The robust trail network has been decades in the making and would not have been possible without an equally robust network of people committed to trail work — including, perhaps most of all, Allegheny County's "trail czar," Darla Cravotta.

Currently Streaming Nov 10, 2023

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The PA Statewide Watershed Conference, held Oct. 29-30 in Altoona, convened experts and community volunteers alike to discuss water-related issues and solutions. This year's event featured artists who use creativity as a communication tool, inspiring people to get involved with their own watersheds. Just in time for the event, the Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers (POWR) released a report on the cumulative impacts of community watershed organizations, which are often small, all-volunteer groups that play a vital role in restoring and protecting the state's waterways. In this episode, we talk with Tali MacArthur, PEC's program manager for watershed outreach and one of the main organizers of the conference, as well as artists and other attendees.

Carbon Pricing 101 (repeat) Oct 13, 2023

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As we await key court decisions on Pennsylvania's participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a refresher on what RGGI is, how it works, and why it would be a game-changer for Pennsylvania. Our interview with Franz Litz, who helped launch the initiative almost 20 years ago, originally aired in 2019.

From the Start Sep 29, 2023

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The idea for an 11-mile Greenway along the Delaware River in Philadelphia goes all the way back to 1995, with U.S. Rep. Bob Borski's vision for reconnecting northeast Philly neighborhoods with the riverfront. Kensington native Mariann "Mare" Dempsey was in on the plan from the beginning as an aide to Congressman Borski, and over the following decades she helped guide the Greenway through thickets of red tape and litigation to become a reality. On the occasion of her retirement this year, PEC's Patrick Starr (another early leader in the initiative) reminisces with Dempsey about the journey they've shared.

Milestones Sep 15, 2023

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It's our 200th podcast episode! We celebrate by recognizing another big milestone: issue #1000 of the PA Environment Digest published by former PA Department of Environmental Protection Secretary David Hess. Dave explains how the Digest grew from an internal newsletter during his days as a legislative staffer into one of the Commonwealth's longest-running and widest-reaching citizen journalism initiatives.

All Natural Sep 01, 2023

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Pennsylvania native Tom Comitta set out to create a novel composed entirely of nature descriptions from more than 300 English-language books published over the last three centuries. The result is "The Nature Book," a novel without any humans and told instead through the eyes of animals as they traverse jungles, desert, and even outer space. What does such a book mean in a world dominated by humans, and what does it say about how we think and talk about nature?

Clearing the Air Aug 18, 2023

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Pennsylvania could be the future site of a direct air capture (DAC) hub, according to a report from the Great Plains Institute. What potential does the technology hold, and why are some areas better candidates than others?

Into the Woods Aug 04, 2023

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Perkiomen Valley School District is the first K-12 Public School in Pennsylvania with an accredited arboretum, and the only K-12 School in the world with two accredited arboretums: Lenape Arboretum and Muhlenberg Woods. They have opened opportunities for students to learn and connect not just with the outdoors, but with the Lenape people who inhabited the area before European settlers displaced them, significantly altering the landscape in the process. In this episode, we speak with two people involved with PV Woods to learn how the arboretums are restoring ecosystems and communities.

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