Environment
Louisville moves toward cleaning up ‘Gully of the Drums’ after more than four decades
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. It is republished with permission. Sign up for their newsletter here. LOUISVILLE — City officials are taking their first public step toward cleaning up hazardous waste in a popular park after a local graduate student […]
‘Rewarding:’ Kentucky Lantern staff honored with 6 regional awards
The Kentucky Lantern’s three full time reporters took home six awards Thursday from the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Louisville chapter.? Politics reporter McKenna Horsley won two second place awards — one in the education category and one in politics. The winning stories included her coverage of what Kentucky schools can teach students about sex […]
House Speaker Johnson opposes radiation compensation for Missouri, New Mexico
Offering compensation to thousands of Americans across nine states exposed to radiation from the nation’s nuclear weapons program would be too expensive, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office said Wednesday. With less than two weeks until the existing Radiation Exposure Compensation Act expires, a spokesperson in Johnson’s office said the speaker supports renewing the program […]
21 states join Biden administration in bid to modernize nation’s aging grid
Twenty-one states, including Kentucky, are joining a push by the Biden administration to modernize America’s aging electric grid, which is under pressure from growing demand, a changing power generation mix that includes lots of wind and solar and severe weather. The administration, which has set a goal of a carbon-free power sector by 2035, announced […]
New solar will help keep power on during scorching summer, report says
With some parts of the country already facing heat waves, the organization in charge of setting reliability standards for the American electric grid is warning that a scorching summer could lead to a shortage of power generation in some regions. The warning comes as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says there’s a 99% chance […]
Rail yard is $5 million closer to again serving as an economic engine
For Chris Campbell, Estill County is where almost everyone has a connection to the rail lines that run by the “twin cities” of Irvine and Ravenna, the latter founded by a railroad in the early 20th century.? Campbell, while not an Estill County native, is a train enthusiast and president of the Irvine-based nonprofit Kentucky […]
Bernheim Forest appeals to Kentucky Supreme Court to stop pipeline in conservation easement
The Bernheim Forest and Arboretum is asking Kentucky’s highest court to take up a legal battle over condemnation of some of its land to build a gas pipeline. In April, the Kentucky Court of Appeals affirmed a ruling last year from the Bullitt Circuit Court that said Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities (LG&E […]
Power plant debate helps push lobby spending to new high for Kentucky legislature
FRANKFORT — Legislation affecting power plant retirements helped drive spending to lobby the Kentucky legislature to a new high of $12.4 million during the 2024 session. A bill that created new hurdles for utilities that want to retire power plants fired by fossil fuels spurred investor-owned utilities and power cooperatives to spend much more than […]
Biden administration proposes ending future federal coal leasing in Powder River Basin
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management on Thursday released plans to end future leasing of its managed coal resources in the Powder River Basin in eastern Montana and northeastern Wyoming in a move that has angered Montana’s Republican political leaders but is being cheered by environmental groups who fought for changes to leasing plans over […]
Please, don’t shoot the wild pigs. It only makes them more elusive.
FRANKFORT — Because an “educated” pig is harder to track or trap, Kentucky is taking steps to prevent the hunting of feral hogs known to damage crops, woodlands and potentially spread disease.? Kentucky wildlife management officials are finalizing a ban on the hunting of wild pigs in an effort to more easily capture them. Under […]
New federal rule will overhaul transmission planning as electric grid strains
A divided Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Monday issued a long-awaited overhaul of how regional electric transmission lines are planned and paid for, a move cheered by clean power groups but blasted by a conservative commissioner who said it was driven by “special interests” and exceeds the commission’s authority. The commission’s final rule on transmission […]
USDA rubber-stamped Tyson’s ‘climate friendly’ beef, but no one has seen the data
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. It is republished with permission. Sign up for their newsletter here.? About five miles south of Broken Bow, in the heart of central Nebraska, thousands of cattle stand in feedlots at Adams Land & Cattle […]