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The energy policy we could have had

Oil, oil, oil. The war with Iran has oil prices soaring. And no thanks, President Trump, for your other war, the one against green energy. As Americans freak over gas prices, they are taking another look at electric vehicles. But guess what? Most domestic automakers dropped ambitious investments toward that end, leaving car lots bereft of these gasoline-replacing vehicles, at least American-made ones. It didn’t have to be that way. Barack Obama and Joe Biden launched serious programs to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Trump trashed those ambitious plans to bring Americans ...

Secrecy is too often the norm in Pa.

Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. We pay for our government, and it should answer to us. But too often, that’s not how it works. Records get buried. Agencies stonewall. Officials wait out the news cycle or criticize reporters rather than answer hard questions. And the more those in power know news organizations are struggling under cutbacks, layoffs and closures, the more they default to secrecy. According to a recent ...

Think energy is unaffordable now?

The facts remain: Pennsylvania is the nation’s second-largest producer of natural gas, and the tri-state region is the world’s fourth largest producer. Both small “conventional” wells and large “unconventional” shale wells supply the state affordable and reliable energy. That could change drastically for tens of thousands of families in 2029 if the Department of Environmental Protection implements a federal methane reduction rule known as Subpart OOOOc in a rigid manner. Subpart OOOOc imposes sweeping new monitoring, reporting, and equipment mandates to reduce oil and gas ...

Kids aren’t picky; parents make them so

It’s not my fault that my kids are picky eaters, I learned today. But it’s my fault if I don’t fix it. That’s what I gleaned from a recent article by Helen Zoe Veit, the author of a forthcoming book called “Picky: How American Children Became the Fussiest Eaters in History.” Children are not naturally picky, Veit tells us in her piece. Not at all. In fact, children are voracious eaters of vinegar and raw oysters and tiny crabs still in the shells. They are not engineered to demand Lunchables, then only eat the cheese out of the package and the second you cave and buy 10 ...

Real life is out there waiting for all of us

While President Donald Trump initiated war against Iran last weekend, my family was out volunteering at our local community garden. Another war weighs heavy on me, but I know I do not control military orders. I cannot make Trump adhere to the Constitution and get a proper declaration of war from Congress. Nor can I control how Congress responds, or in this case, chooses not to respond. But I can pick up a rake and help my community prepare a garden for spring and feed our neighbors. Trump, with the help of a GOP-dominated Congress, has stripped billions of dollars from health ...

What history demands we remember

These are no longer theoretical debates confined to policy forums. The conflict is widening. American servicemen have now been lost. Regional nations are absorbing casualties. Retaliation cycles are accelerating. Here is the reality: Iran has long advanced its nuclear program, and the international community has repeatedly warned that enrichment capability could move beyond peaceful energy into weapons. International inspectors have acknowledged they cannot fully verify all aspects of Iran’s activities. Uranium enriched to levels closer to weapons grade has existed in stockpiles, ...