Environmental Justice

A carbon pledge, a bag ban, a tree plan: Philly’s year in environmental news and what’s next

This article highlights the biggest environmental news coming from Philadelphia in the year 2021. 

  • "Philadelphia vowed to be carbon neutral by 2050. One strategy for meeting this goal comes from Philly's Building Energy Performance Program, which requires all non-residential
  • ...Read more
Massachusetts’ new efficiency plan puts a priority on underserved communities

Massachusetts’ new $668 million three-year energy efficiency plan is awaiting approval from the state Department of Public Utilities. This plan include provisions to increase outreach and expand eligibility in underserved communities and pay utilities for providing services in these...Read more

What Biden executive orders could mean for the energy sector

This order discusses the, so-labeled, aggressive climate policies Biden plans to implement once he ascends to the Presidency. That said, discussions of executive orders to be implemented include orders to reduce fossil fuel production (with heavy taxation on gas and oil extractors, producers,...Read more

Bhopal’s Trials of Knowledge and Ignorance

This scholarly journal article reports on the sociotechnical entanglements related to a disaster experienced in Bhopal, India. This disaster was not directly related to energy resources, but was incited by the failure of energy resources (refrigeration system, energy burn off smokestacks, and...Read more

EPA takes up environmental justice complaint against Philly’s permit for SEPTA power plant in Nicetown

Septa's powerplant is built in a poor, community of color. Part of institutional racism, the plant has contributed to adverse health effects of the residents who live there. Residents have demonstrated countless times to protest the presence of the polluting plant, but to little avail. Septa...Read more

Benzene emissions at shuttered South Philly refinery exceeded federal limits last year, report finds

The Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery in South Philadelphia last year emitted average airborne benzene levels at triple a federal threshold, even though the site had been closed since 2019 due to an explosion and fire,...Read more

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