Lee Hedgepeth
@lee_hedgepeth
Alabama reporter for @insideclimate. I write @treadbylee, a newsletter of Southern journalism. Sign up below.
More energy usage than all the residences in Birmingham. 2 million gallons a day of water. More than 100 acres of forest clear cut. Putting the Birmingham darter at risk of extinction. Read about the impacts of a proposed data center in Alabama here: insideclimatenews.org/news/25072025/…
My colleague @dennispillion and I were the first reporters to sit down at length with Cynthia Almond, the new president of the Public Service Commission. The image she projects is much different than that of her predecessor, Twinkle Cavanaugh. Full story: insideclimatenews.org/news/21072025/…
New Alabama Public Service Commission President Cynthia Almond says she wants to hear from 'all sides' as she becomes the state's top utility regulator. @lee_hedgepeth and I sat down with Almond in her first interview in her new post. insideclimatenews.org/news/21072025/…
A proposed data center in Bessemer, Alabama, would use millions of gallons of water a day, more energy than all of Birmingham, and require clearcutting of more than 100 acres of forest. Risks to the endangered watercress darter could help slow the project. insideclimatenews.org/news/14072025/…
This is the story of a man with no name who was disappeared from a mall in New Orleans. It's about disappearances—past and present. About the U.S. legacy in Guatemala. About banana empires, CIA coups, and the people still paying the price. antigravitymagazine.com/feature/fruit-…
“The lack of clarity around how much water this project will use is the product of one thing: the secrecy of this developer, and whatever big tech company is actually behind this,” Miller said...
A local water utility told data center developers it could not provide the 2 million gallons of water per day they've requested without "significant upgrades." Full story: insideclimatenews.org/news/12072025/…
A local water utility told data center developers it could not provide the 2 million gallons of water per day they've requested without "significant upgrades." Full story: insideclimatenews.org/news/12072025/…
After the Chantal storm, I'm contemplating flood insurance. Great story by my colleagues Amy Green & Peter Aldhous about a serious insurance situation in Fla insideclimatenews.org/news/06072025/…
Shiloh residents are suing ALDOT after years of flooding, broken promises, and stalled progress. The lawsuit calls it a violation of the #FifthAmendment and an illegal #takings. Their fight for justice continues. #JusticeForShiloh 🔗 ow.ly/fhVy50WmjgT
Residents of the historically Black Shiloh Community in Alabama have faced repeated flooding following the expansion and elevation of Highway 84. Now they're bringing their fight for environmental justice to federal court. Full story from @insideclimate: insideclimatenews.org/news/08072025/…
They’re still giving $$ to coal companies, even when their product is shipped overseas. insideclimatenews.org/news/02072025/…
Yes to all this. Plus, all forms of energy have long been subsidized because it is a pre-requisite for a productive, advanced industrial society. It's not as if fossil fueled power hasn't been subsidized. As a case in point: eenews.net/articles/texas…
via @lee_hedgepeth: "What Burgum didn’t mention on Friday was Warrior Met Coal’s checkered safety and environmental record, which includes thousands of federal safety violations issued under both Republican and Democratic administrations" insideclimatenews.org/news/15042025/…
After a visit from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in April, an Alabama coal export company gets a nice juicy subsidy in the Trump tax & budget bill. Great reporting from @lee_hedgepeth quoting yours truly. insideclimatenews.org/news/02072025/…
Meanwhile, coal exporters get a gratuitious handout, benefiting an Alabama coal miner with a horrific labor & safety record via @lee_hedgepeth insideclimatenews.org/news/02072025/…
So here's the deal on the Senate-passed One Big Bad Bill, now heading back to the House for further debate: 1. Wind & solar projects that commence construction before the end of 2025 can claim the investment or production tax cuts under current law & have up to four years to…
"The [Alabama Environmental Management Commission], a seven-member appointed board that oversees the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, ruled in favor of the environmental groups by a 6-1 vote, despite ADEM’s objections." -@WBHM/@insideclimate wbhm.org/2025/alabama-e…
An Alabama City Recommends Changing Its Laws to Accommodate One of the Country’s Largest Proposed Data Centers - @insideclimate insideclimatenews.org/news/18062025/…
When a hotly contested developer calls your work "misinformation," you may be onto something. insideclimatenews.org/news/18062025/…
This becomes increasingly insane the further down it you read. Some of these numbers are staggering.
“Nobody’s looking cumulatively at what this will do to the entire watershed, the entire system, and we need that kind of level of decision-making & scrutiny before we should be considering a huge increase like that” ARA's Cindy Lowry said. insideclimatenews.org/news/16062025/… @insideclimate
Seriously take a few minutes and read this. It's absolutely insane.
"This would nuke this creek," a Yale biologist said of a proposed data center in Alabama. The data center is projected to use more water than every home in the state and 90x the electricity of homes in Bessemer, where it's to be located. Full story: insideclimatenews.org/news/16062025/…
"This would nuke this creek," a Yale biologist said of a proposed data center in Alabama. The data center is projected to use more water than every home in the state and 90x the electricity of homes in Bessemer, where it's to be located. Full story: insideclimatenews.org/news/16062025/…
