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Electric bikes can help fight climate change and solve social inequities.They also pose serious hazards. Where do they fit on the streets of Philadelphia?

Last fall, I was cruising down a street in Mount Airy on my new electric bike, joyfully accelerating into the wind and relishing in emission-free transportation, when suddenly it hit me. The pavement, that is. An SUV facing the wrong way on the two-lane road jumped out from a line of parked cars in front

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8 mins read
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Camden kids build a pathway to environmental careers through fellowships

It was a muggy morning, on a midsummer Wednesday, and the fish weren’t biting. A dozen or so preteens kept dropping their baited lines into the water from a dock and pulling them out empty. Or often, tangled, requiring repeated assistance of nearby camp counselors. A tedious exercise? Perhaps. But just beneath the surface were

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5 mins read
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State funding could finally address the menace of asbestos that looms over Philadelphia schools

In 2023, a new rash of school closures due to asbestos offered the latest gut punch to the Philadelphia education community. But advocates say changes in Harrisburg and Philly offer the best hope in their lifetimes for something better.   When Marybeth Reinhold started teaching English at Frankford High School, it marked an exciting return

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9 mins read
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In the last century, Pennsylvania and New Jersey battled New York City to control water from the Delaware River. With sea levels rising and droughts looming, another fateful conflict may lie ahead

Most of the big brother–little brother act between New York City and Philadelphia is all in good fun. Eagles versus Giants, Mets versus Phillies, international metropolis versus city of neighborhoods — regardless of who wins, the sun still rises the next day. But start scratching around about the fact that these two cities share the

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9 mins read

New city rec center composting deal a step forward, but plenty left on the table

When Philadelphia city officials cut the ribbon on a new composting operation on Rising Sun Avenue in the Northeast last month, it was one of those seemingly rare moments where everybody wins. Philadelphia officials were able to begin diverting food waste from 50 recreational centers scattered throughout the city, with the promise of more to

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3 mins read
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A global climate debate heats up as a liquefied natural gas terminal looks for a home in Chester

The table was set, powerful people already gathered round and talking about the future, when Carol Kazeem walked in about 15 minutes late and popped the balloon. Kazeem, a first-term Pennsylvania state representative from Chester’s 159th district, has had a whirlwind of a year. When the former trauma outreach specialist and 31-year-old mother of three

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11 mins read

Can SEPTA find a silver lining in the I-95 collapse?

When news first broke of the catastrophic failure of a strip of I-95 this weekend, many initial reactions bouncing around the internet were classic Philly culture. Funny T-shirts were made; people sporting local long-‘O’ accents were interviewed; jokes about nearby Four Seasons Total Landscaping abounded. This is so Philly seemed to be a consensus take.

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3 mins read
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At former PES refinery, pollution concerns persist under the surface

In the 340 years since Philadelphia’s founding, the city’s landscape has constantly shifted, as waves of development and redevelopment shipped out with the old and in with the new. Unfortunately, on many occasions across the city, transitions went terribly wrong. Consider Logan Triangle, a 35-acre site in North Philadelphia where developers filled in a creek

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13 mins read
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Ongoing Threat from Plant behind March Chemical Spill

Several weeks have passed since Philadelphia was in a panic over the specter of contaminated drinking water. But while concerns over the March 25 chemical spill at a Trinseo Altuglas plant in Bristol have faded into yesterday’s news, hazards still swirl for both people and animals in Lower Bucks County. In an email to Grid,

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4 mins read