Infrastructure

"Each year, Philadelphia's waterways are forced to swallow a dirty mix containing 15 billion gallons of untreated sewage and rainwater during storms because of an antiquated city system, according to a report released Thursday by PennEnvironment."

"House Republicans on Wednesday advanced an appropriations bill for federal environmental agencies that would boost development of the same fossil fuels driving the myriad disasters that have ravaged the Northern Hemisphere this year."

"The homebuilding industry has been slow to adopt changes that can better protect against extreme weather. Some architects are showing what’s possible."

"Long lead times for distribution transformers have emerged in recent months as a bottleneck that threatens progress toward meeting climate goals and upgrading the country’s power grid, industry leaders and energy officials said."

"Companies are finding more environmentally friendly ways to make cement, which accounts for about a twelfth of global carbon dioxide emissions, making it worse for the climate than flying. Now they have to convince builders that their climate-friendly cement will hold just as well as the conventional stuff."

"The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tuesday took another step toward reducing the use of planet-warming gasses called hydrofluorocarbons, issuing a rule moving toward a 40 percent phasedown of the substances."

"In cities around the world, anti-bird spikes are used to protect statues and balconies from unwanted birds - but now, it appears the birds are getting their own back. Dutch researchers have found that some birds use the spikes as weapons around their nests - using them to keep pests away in the same way that humans do."

"A federal court in Richmond has held up construction, despite a law passed by Congress last month that says it no longer has jurisdiction over the pipeline."

"The Biden administration on Wednesday proposed to strengthen requirements for the removal of lead-based paint dust in homes and child care facilities built before 1978, an effort to eliminate exposure to lead that could require millions of property owners to pay for abatement."

"Basements and train tunnels constantly leak heat, causing the land to sink and straining building foundations. Scientists call it “underground climate change.”"