News Item – Breathe Project

Hyundai Breaks Ground on Louisiana Steel Mill. Is it Green Enough?

Joe Callahan — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 15:40:51 +0000

Hyundai is set to break ground in southern Louisiana this week on a nearly $6 billion steel mill, which may become the lowest-carbon facility of its kind in the U.S. On Friday, the Korean industrial giant will hold a ceremony at the project site, where the fields of a former sugarcane plantation have been cleared for the major work ahead. Hyundai’s plant will initially run on natural gas…

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The EPA Could Make It Harder to Fight Polluting Data Centers

Joe Callahan — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 15:41:24 +0000

When news broke that Elon Musk was building a massive AI data center near a historic Black neighborhood in Memphis, the backlash was swift and intense. Activists organized protests, residents packed public hearings to speak out, and environmentalists joined civil rights groups and sued Musk. Now, the Environmental Protection Agency wants to let Musk and other data center developers keep their…

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NextEra Picks Site for Huge Natural Gas Plant in Region

Joe Callahan — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 13:37:51 +0000

NextEra Energy Resources will build a $13 billion natural gas-fired power generation complex on a 700-acre former coal site in Fayette County along the Monongahela River. The East Riverside Energy Center will comprise three combined-cycle natural gas facilities that will have a total of up to 3.75 gigawatts of electrical generation capacity when they are all up and running as planned in 2032.

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Pennsylvania’s A.I. Gold Rush Meets Second Thoughts

Deb Smit — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 19:36:04 +0000

President Trump arrived in Pittsburgh last summer on a mission to bring the country’s artificial intelligence boom to the Rust Belt. Flanked by senators and cabinet members, the president celebrated pledges from Google, Amazon and Anthropic to invest more than $90 billion in data centers and other technology in the region. “Today’s commitments are ensuring that the future is going to be…

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Gov. Shapiro Wants Data Centers to Bring their Own Power. What’s that Mean for Prices and Pollution?

Joe Callahan — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 22:25:30 +0000

Gov. Josh Shapiro said his latest executive order on data centers would protect Pennsylvanians from higher costs related to their development. But even if new data centers bring their own power to build in Pennsylvania — one pillar of the governor’s standards — it may not lower electricity bills for the rest of us. The effort could also raise costs in other areas if the power comes mostly from…

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Allegheny County Council Proposes Bill to Ban Data Centers from Using County Property

Joe Callahan — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 18:28:25 +0000

Allegheny County Council proposed legislation that would ban data centers from operating on county-owned properties. The bill, sponsored by council members Bethany Hallam, Dan Gryzbek, Kathleen Madonna-Emmerling, Alex Rose, Lissa Geiger Shulman and Michelle Naccarati-Chapkis, was referred to committee without discussion Tuesday. The proposed ordinance highlights concerns associated with data…

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Bidders Circle Shell’s Pennsylvania Petrochemical Plant

Joe Callahan — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 18:07:54 +0000

Shell Chemicals’ plant in Beaver County and other chemical facilities in the United States are up for sale, according to a published report. The Financial Times reported that ExxonMobil, LyondellBasell, Apollo and others have expressed interest in bidding for the assets, which Shell decided last year falls outside its core operations. Shell declined comment on the report. The sale could be…

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PJM has Finally Greenlit a Lot of New Clean Power. Can it Get Built?

Joe Callahan — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 13:35:41 +0000

The country’s biggest energy market has a problem: It can’t build enough power plants to keep up with electricity demand. For PJM Interconnection’s 67 million customers across 13 states, the consequences are ever-higher utility bills. For PJM itself, it’s unrelenting political pressure, from blue-state lawmakers on up to President Donald Trump. Familiar culprits are at the heart of the…

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Bill in Harrisburg Could Hold Key to Expanding Solar Power in Pennsylvania

Joe Callahan — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 23:08:50 +0000

For most people, solar panels like the ones on Lois Drumheller’s rooftop are what come to mind when they think of solar energy — a way to save some money on electric bills. “I want to be able to have something in my pocket left over to support community efforts,” Drumheller said. In Pennsylvania, though, there’s growing interest, despite federal rollbacks on renewable tax incentives and other…

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Policy Playbook Urges Pa. Lawmakers Look to Renewables, Not Fossil Fuels, for Energy Affordability

Joe Callahan — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 23:11:56 +0000

A Pennsylvania environmental group is out with a new playbook to move the state away from fossil fuels and to a clean energy economy. PennFuture’s Energy Playbook aims to address the overlapping issues of energy supply and affordability, without relying on fossil fuels. The guide recommends that lawmakers make it easier for renewable energy to be sited in the state…

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