Science

An Alabama Coal Plant Once Again Nabs the Dubious Title of the Nation’s Worst Greenhouse Gas Polluter

In West Jefferson, everything happens in the shadow of Alabama Power. Fewer than 500 people live in the town of less than one square mile, located just a 20-minute drive northwest of Birmingham. There’s little in the way of excess. Modest homes dot the landscape, with residents waving as cars pass by. There’s a Dollar General, a Baptist church and an elementary school — the staples of a small Southern community. But in this town, a plant looms large. Read more.

by Lee Hedgepeth, Inside Climate News

10 Medicaid Holdout States Scramble to Improve Health Coverage

The Republican-led states that have refused to expand Medicaid are trying a variety of strategies to save struggling hospitals and cover more people without full expansion, which was one of the key provisions of the Affordable Care Act. In Alabama, a single parent with two children can’t qualify for Medicaid if he or she makes more than $4,476 per year. Read more.

by Anna Claire Vollers, Stateline

EV Charging Station — BPA’s First — Opens at Avondale Village

Birmingham Parking Authority celebrated the opening of its first electric vehicle charging station Wednesday at its Avondale Village parking lot. “This charging station is an important milestone not only for the Birmingham Parking Authority but for the city of Birmingham as well,” said Andre Davis, executive director and CEO of the BPA. “This is the first EV charging station in any BPA parking facility, and it's the first EV charging station in the city funded in partnership with the Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition.” The Level 2 EV charging station at 109 41st Street South can charge as many as four vehicles at one time. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

In Alabama’s Paint Rock Valley, Researchers Count Every Tree Thicker Than a Pencil

In an effort to better understand the biodiversity of north Alabama, scientists are conducting a “tree census,” with the goal of studying roughly 100,000 trees for 50 years. Read more.

by Mary Scott Hodgin, WBHM

Protecting Margaritaville: Jimmy Buffett, Bama and the Fight to Save the Manatee

MOBILE — The second line started at four, but it was five o’clock somewhere. Hundreds of people gathered here on a September Sunday — their Hawaiian shirts and flip-flops brightening the city streets — to participate in a walking parade in remembrance of Jimmy Buffett, who spent much of his childhood in this Gulf Coast city. Buffett, a poet of paradise, died Sept. 1 at age 76. Though he may be more commonly associated with Florida, the late musician and environmental philanthropist was born in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and was raised in Mobile. In addition to his musical legacy, Buffett was a champion for environmental causes, co-founding the Save the Manatee Club with then Florida Gov. Bob Graham. Read more.

by Lee Hedgepeth, Inside Climate News

Alabama’s John Christy May Be the Country’s Best Known and Most Criticized Climate Change Skeptic

Alabama State Climatologist John Christy is considered an outsider, if not a pariah, among most climate researchers. His critics say his work has been plagued by errors and many of his conclusions dismissed. Yet he defends his research and continues to have an outsized influence on the climate change debate well beyond Alabama’s borders. Read more.

by Richard Banks, WBHM

The Connection Is Growing Between Climate Change and Big Storms

The connection between climate change, hurricanes and tornadoes is not so clear. But data is beginning to show some relationship. Read more.

by Richard Banks, WBHM

Meet the Alabama Scientists Connecting Soaring Global Temperatures to Carbon Dioxide

Two Alabama researchers study ice cores and fossil records from Antarctica, helping connect an alarming increase in the earth’s temperature to rising levels of carbon dioxide. Read more.

by Richard Banks, WBHM

Proposal Would Create 36-Mile Trail Loop Around Birmingham

The loop would connect Ruffner Mountain, Railroad Park and Red Mountain Park. Read more.

by Andrew Yeager, WBHM

COVID Cases Increasing in Summer Spike

COVID-19 is trending upward in Alabama and across the country, following a pattern of summer spikes set since the virus first arrived in the U.S. in 2020. Read more.

by Virginia Martin