As the Alabama Legislature Adjourns, Environmentalists See a Silver Lining - Inside Climate News Lawmakers failed to bring back formal public hearings in electric rate cases and constrained state environmental regulators. But citizen opposition helped kill a move to end PSC elections.

Good summary of the mixed results of recent Alabama legislative session from @leehedgepeth.bsky.social: (1/)
insideclimatenews.org/news/1004202...

America’s Dirty Secret - Inside Climate News An interview with author Catherine Coleman Flowers.

Growing up, my family lived with a failing septic system. To keep the commode flushing, toilet paper went into the trash, a source of constant shame. Listen to my conversation w/ Catherine Coleman Flowers about her work securing sanitation for all Americans. insideclimatenews.org/news/1904202...

Look up! As spring passes, the sky will be changing quickly. Orion will appear lower each night, eventually replaced by summer #stars and the Milky Way. The first photo here, taken from Alabama's Black Belt, shows the Orion and Horsehead Nebulae. The second is of the Alabama River near Elm Bluff.

As the Alabama Legislature Adjourns, Environmentalists See a Silver Lining - Inside Climate News Lawmakers failed to bring back formal public hearings in electric rate cases and constrained state environmental regulators. But citizen opposition helped kill a move to end PSC elections.

What was the environmental impact of Alabama’s 2026 legislative session? insideclimatenews.org/news/1004202...

Alabama Power customers aren’t giving up yet. On Monday, around two dozen of them marched to the HQ of the company to make that much clear. “Public utilities should be for the public,” one protestor’s sign said. My latest for @insideclimatenews.org: insideclimatenews.org/news/0704202...

This is the Cygnus Loop photographed from Alabama's Black Belt during the first nights of spring. This emission nebula is the leftovers of the explosion of a star more 20 times the mass of our sun thousands of years ago. The explosion would've been visible from earth during day.

How the Iran War Reveals the Extent of Fossil Fuel Propaganda - Inside Climate News With consumer prices rising due to the United States and Israel’s war with Iran, interest in renewables and EVs is rising. Misinformation may be holding consumers back.

While war in Iran drives up the cost of nearly everything, people turn to renewable energy and EVs.

Gas and oil propaganda is trying to discourage them, says U.S. climate change guru @senwhitehouse.bsky.social. @leehedgepeth.bsky.social @insideclimatenews.org: bit.ly/4dAm80g

@spj-posts.bsky.social

Two Years After Fatal Explosion, Alabama Mine Regulator ‘Letting the Fox Guard the Henhouse’ - Inside Climate News Under the Biden Administration, federal regulators had forced the state toward stricter regulation of methane emissions. Under Trump, they appear to have lifted the pressure.

Under the Biden Administration, federal regulators had forced Alabama toward stricter regulation of methane emissions after a fatal home explosion. Under Trump, they appear to have lifted the pressure. insideclimatenews.org/news/2103202...

Sonny Burton’s eyes filled with tears as I read him the AG's statement.

Sonny Burton took a breath. He remembered all the men he’d known on death row who’d been killed by the state. 73 since he arrived there. 25 since Marshall became AG.

Full story: www.treadbylee.com/p/sonny

The day before Alabama had been scheduled to suffocate him, I sat down with Sonny Burton inside Holman Correctional Facility, where death row is housed. Take a moment to read and share what he had to say. Full story: www.treadbylee.com/p/sonny

I was recently able to get out under some dark skies here in Alabama. Here's the Heart Nebula, photographed from Chilatchee Creek near Gee's Bend.

Good (this was the case of the man who had been sentenced to death under "felony-murder" charges - he admitted taking part in a robbery, but not only did he not fire the fatal shot, he wasn't even in the building at the time, and he did not order to encourage the shooting).

Ivey spares life of Sonny Burton The Alabama governor announced the commutation Tuesday, just two days before Burton's scheduled execution.

Gov. Ivey has spared the life of Sonny Burton, an Alabama man on death row. He was scheduled to be executed Thursday. www.treadbylee.com/p/ivey-spare...

Thank you for your work

Important. And follow @leahanelson.bsky.social for action steps I’m this case

“As a poor Black man in Alabama accused of killing a white woman, Myers had no choice but to accept the lawyer appointed to him by the court.

“Rocky didn’t have a choice,” Bankston said. “He got what he got.”

And what he got for a lawyer, she explained, was undeniably a Klansman.“

Crazy shit here, ya gotta take a minute

On the advice of Klonsel: A look under the hood of an Alabama injustice Rocky Myers, a Black man, was sentenced to death after being represented at trial by John Mays, a court-appointed attorney long affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan.

A Black man was convicted of murder despite no physical evidence. Even Gov. Kay Ivey thought the case was suspect enough to commute his death sentence. Turns out his court appointed attorney was a Klan member. Read @leehedgepeth.bsky.social for more. #Alabama

www.treadbylee.com/p/klonsel?ut...

“I’m getting out of here,” he said. “But these things just take time.”

🫩 He should have never been locked up…

Rocky Myers, a Black man from Decatur, Alabama, is still locked up for a crime he didn’t commit. His lawyer, former corporate counsel for the United Klans of America, told me if he had to do it all over again, he’d seat an all-white jury this time. Please take a moment with this story.

Katie’s in Mid-City is delicious. Joey K’s on Magazine is also great. Make sure to go down Frenchmen Street at night, not just Bourbon. Also highly recommend the art museum and the Ogden museum of southern art.

On the advice of Klonsel: A look under the hood of an Alabama injustice Rocky Myers, a Black man, was sentenced to death after being represented at trial by John Mays, a court-appointed attorney long affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan.

Rocky Myers, a Black man accused of murdering a white woman in Alabama, was represented at trial by a Klan lawyer named John Mays. He had no idea. 30 years later, he's still behind bars. Please take a moment to read and share. www.treadbylee.com/p/klonsel

A view of the night sky over the Alabama River in Roland Cooper State Park from Valentine’s Day weekend.

Jesse Jackson "Roll Tide" at University of Alabama YouTube video by Lee Hedgepeth

The late #JesseJackson knew how to inspire a crowd. He did it with an emphatic "Roll Tide" @uofalabama.bsky.social a few years back. Here's a bit of audio I recorded from the event.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ju0...

My latest in @insideclimatenews.org focuses on Trump's decision to allow coke ovens to pollute vulnerable communities unchecked. It's also partly a memorial to Charlie Powell, a longtime environmental advocate in Alabama. insideclimatenews.org/news/1102202...

Charles "Sonny" Burton killed no one. Alabama plans to suffocate him anyway. Jurors, the victim's daughter and Burton's family believe his life should be spared. The state thinks otherwise.

Sonny Burton can no longer walk. His loved ones worry that, should the time come, prison staffers will have to roll the 75-year-old into the execution chamber on a gurney. One final indignity, they say, for a man who never killed a soul. Full story: www.treadbylee.com/p/charles-so...

Charles "Sonny" Burton killed no one. Alabama plans to suffocate him anyway. Jurors, the victim's daughter and Burton's family believe his life should be spared. The state thinks otherwise.

#Alabama is preparing to execute a 75 year old man for a murder he didn't commit, while the *actual* killer is serving life in prison. @leehedgepeth.bsky.social exposes yet another injustice in our criminal "justice" system.

open.substack.com/pub/treadbyl...

If passed, it’s unclear whether the bill would improve the design of gas cans to Moore's liking. In the last two decades, designs have changed because of other, bipartisan legislation, including the Children’s Gasoline Burn Prevention Act. Full story: insideclimatenews.org/news/2801202...

This Small Alabama Town Was Part of the Manhattan Project. Now It May Host a Hyperscale Data Center. - Inside Climate News CHILDERSBURG, Ala.—At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, there were few questions and fewer answers.  Despite the lack of public detail about a proposed hyperscale data center in the town of 5,000 south ...

A scoop from me for @insideclimatenews.org. Another day, another Alabama data center. The rep for this developer wouldn't even provide the company name. The mayor of Childersburg emphasized he didn't sign an NDA. He signed a "confidentiality agreement" instead. insideclimatenews.org/news/2301202...