Organizers with Philly Thrive and People’s Tech Project aren’t waiting for an artificial intelligence data center in the Bellwether District to be announced. In the deep freeze of February, the Point Breeze environmental justice advocacy group took to the sidewalks of Grays Ferry, knocking on 1,876 doors and speaking with nearly 500 people. The advocates
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In a scene from the PBS docuseries “NOVA: Chasing Carbon Zero,” Chef Chris Galarza removes an ice cold frying pan from a freezer and places it on an induction burner. Only a moment later, he tosses some chopped peppers in the pan, which immediately start to sizzle. This impossible-seeming trick is one that Galaraza has
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Hydrogen as an element is simple. Each atom has one electron and one proton. It’s first on the periodic table — the most abundant chemical substance in the universe. But hydrogen as a potential climate-friendly energy source is anything but simple. Hydrogen has long been used in dirty industries: cleaved from fossil fuels, it can
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Ahead of the April primary, Grid asked the mayoral candidates for their thoughts on the city’s major sustainability issues. We sent questions about municipal waste, sustainable development, parks and greenspaces, and bicycling infrastructure. Eight candidates responded by our deadline and we published their responses in a special voter’s guide issue. Now, two candidates remain: Republican
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Cherelle Parker served as the 9th district City Councilmember from 2016 until 2022, when she resigned to run for mayor. For 10 years before her term in City Council she served as a state representative. On Parks Funding My campaign has been focused on a vision for making Philadelphia the safest, cleanest, and greenest big
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David Oh served as at-large City Councilmember (Republican) from 2012 to 2023, when he resigned to run for mayor. Oh worked as an attorney before running for City Council and served in the Army National Guard from 1988 to 1992. On Parks Funding The fact that Philadelphia is spending less proportionally of its own budget,
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Carol Foy, a lifelong Grays Ferry resident and community advocate, knows how dangerous air pollution can be. “I lost a son over a decade ago who had lung problems,” she says. “He was only 33 years old.” After moving out of Grays Ferry, her son moved by the oil refinery in South Philadelphia. He lived
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Last week, Clean Air Council (CAC) released a petition urging Philadelphia residents to demand a public hearing to advocate for improved air quality. The Council found that the region is not meeting federal air quality standards for ozone pollution in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. “Ground-level ozone air pollution, known as smog, is
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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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On May 11 the EPA proposed carbon emissions standards limiting greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. If adopted, the standards would reduce total carbon dioxide (CO2) by 617 million metric tons — the equivalent of reducing the annual emissions produced by 137 million passenger cars — through 2042. The rule would also reduce particulate emissions
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The 2019 PES oil refinery explosion in South Philadelphia opened the door for a brighter future after more than a century of fossil fuel pollution. But four years later, many questions remain unanswered by new owner Hilco Redevelopment Partners. In September 2019 I plopped into a kayak and pushed off the eastern banks of the
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