On a windy March afternoon, Mark Berman poured a pile of sugar onto a piece of newspaper to feed one of his 13 bee colonies. Berman was providing the sugar supplement because the night temperatures were still dipping into the 30s, but there were signs that spring — and honey production — had begun. One
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Imagine the dirtiest engine legal in the United States. It’s an engine responsible for an annual 30 million tons of carbon dioxide, 21,000 tons of fine particulates and 68,000 tons of nitrogen oxides, which are harmful to human health and the environment, PennEnvironment reports. A heavy-duty truck or SUV may spring to mind, but this
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Amid a federal disinvestment in technical support for environmental justice communities, four community-based organizations (CBOs) in Philadelphia are advancing their work to address the local impacts of climate change. Partnered with Drexel University’s Environmental Collaboratory, Esperanza, Mantua Civic Association, Overbrook Environmental and Education Center (OEEC) and SEAMAAC have released the findings of thorough community outreach
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Imagine the dirtiest engine legal in the United States. It’s an engine responsible for an annual 30 million tons of carbon dioxide, 21,000 tons of fine particulates and 68,000 tons of nitrogen oxides nationwide that are harmful to human health and the environment, PennEnvironment reports. A heavy-duty truck or SUV may spring to mind, but
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Sustainable agriculture projects on 143 farms in the mid-Atlantic region have ground to a halt after a climate resiliency grant was paused by the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze. The Pennsylvania-based nonprofit Pasa is administering a $59 million United States Department of Agriculture grant to develop climate-smart practices and increase revenue streams to hundreds of
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Twelve million federal dollars granted to Philadelphia’s tree canopy expansion efforts are caught in the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze, officials said at a City Council hearing on Wednesday, March 5. Philadelphia Parks & Recreation (PPR) Commissioner Susan Slawson told Councilmember Jamie Gauthier that the department does not have access to the funds. PPR declined
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Over the past year, Philadelphia has received over $21 million in federal funding to expand its electric vehicle charging network. EV ownership has boomed in the city — the number of registrations increased from 475 in 2018 to 5,870 in 2023, according to PennDOT — but there are too few charging stations to meet demand.
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Expanding electric vehicle infrastructure isn’t the only Philadelphia initiative that’s taking a hit from the Trump administration’s halt to federal funding, the ultimate ramifications of which are being worked out in courts across the nation. Key projects tackling climate change, public health and even the City’s program to eliminate traffic deaths are now in limbo,
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When president Donald Trump signed an executive order to halt federal spending on January 27, its impacts hit close to home. Despite the decision being rescinded two days later, the fate of funding for environmental work remains murky due to the vague language and unclear legality of the sweeping order. It left sustainability-focused groups, including
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A nearly $14 million federal grant awarded to the Schuylkill River Development Corporation (SRDC) and Philadelphia Department of Streets is at risk after the Trump administration’s recent executive orders disrupted the flow of federal spending. An SRDC representative told Grid in an email that it is waiting to see whether the administration will pay for
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