Lee Hedgepeth
@leehedgepeth.bsky.social
Alabama reporter for Inside Climate News. Storyteller. Alabamian. I write Tread by Lee, a newsletter of Southern journalism. Sign up at www.TreadbyLee.com
Cleo King said he prays about every vote he takes as a city councilor in Bessemer, Alabama. Here's what he said about his vote against a massive data center. New from
@insideclimatenews.org. Full story: insideclimatenews.org/news/1811202...
@insideclimatenews.org. Full story: insideclimatenews.org/news/1811202...
November 19, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Cleo King said he prays about every vote he takes as a city councilor in Bessemer, Alabama. Here's what he said about his vote against a massive data center. New from
@insideclimatenews.org. Full story: insideclimatenews.org/news/1811202...
@insideclimatenews.org. Full story: insideclimatenews.org/news/1811202...
An @insideclimatenews.org analysis found temps in football stadiums can spike for hours, from 10 to 16 degrees higher than outside...Auburn averaged over 100 emergency calls per game in 2024, the majority being heat-related. insideclimatenews.org/news/1611202...
November 16, 2025 at 10:14 PM
An @insideclimatenews.org analysis found temps in football stadiums can spike for hours, from 10 to 16 degrees higher than outside...Auburn averaged over 100 emergency calls per game in 2024, the majority being heat-related. insideclimatenews.org/news/1611202...
Temperatures inside southern football stadiums can be 10 to 16 degrees higher than outside the facilities, leaving spectators at elevated risk of heat injury. A new story on scorching Saturdays from @insideclimatenews.org. insideclimatenews.org/news/1611202...
November 16, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Temperatures inside southern football stadiums can be 10 to 16 degrees higher than outside the facilities, leaving spectators at elevated risk of heat injury. A new story on scorching Saturdays from @insideclimatenews.org. insideclimatenews.org/news/1611202...
With the Bessemer City Council scheduled to vote Tuesday on approval of a data center the size of 18 Walmart Supercenters, a fish and a "zombie" highway could be significant hurdles for the development. insideclimatenews.org/news/1311202...
November 14, 2025 at 1:05 AM
With the Bessemer City Council scheduled to vote Tuesday on approval of a data center the size of 18 Walmart Supercenters, a fish and a "zombie" highway could be significant hurdles for the development. insideclimatenews.org/news/1311202...
An @insideclimatenews.org analysis shows that Alabama Power customers pay the highest residential electricity bills in the United States. insideclimatenews.org/news/0311202...
November 4, 2025 at 4:01 PM
An @insideclimatenews.org analysis shows that Alabama Power customers pay the highest residential electricity bills in the United States. insideclimatenews.org/news/0311202...
Today, Inside Climate News published our first piece in an investigative series on Alabama Power called "Wired for Profit." Take a moment to read and share. insideclimatenews.org/news/0311202...
November 3, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Today, Inside Climate News published our first piece in an investigative series on Alabama Power called "Wired for Profit." Take a moment to read and share. insideclimatenews.org/news/0311202...
Alabama has suspended methane monitoring above mines forced by the feds after a fatal home explosion. Its excuse? Monitoring for the gas may be too costly for coal companies. Joe Pizarchik, the nation's former top coal regulator, told me that's not true. insideclimatenews.org/news/2910202...
October 29, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Alabama has suspended methane monitoring above mines forced by the feds after a fatal home explosion. Its excuse? Monitoring for the gas may be too costly for coal companies. Joe Pizarchik, the nation's former top coal regulator, told me that's not true. insideclimatenews.org/news/2910202...
After Anthony Boyd had struggled for air inside the gas mask for many minutes, his brother broke the silence in the witness room. "It's like he's gasping for air," he said. My full eyewitness account: www.treadbylee.com/p/after-just...
October 24, 2025 at 4:45 PM
After Anthony Boyd had struggled for air inside the gas mask for many minutes, his brother broke the silence in the witness room. "It's like he's gasping for air," he said. My full eyewitness account: www.treadbylee.com/p/after-just...
18 months after a fatal home atop a coal mine, Alabama says it no longer plans to require monitoring of explosive gases under homes. Full story: insideclimatenews.org/news/0310202...
October 4, 2025 at 4:17 PM
18 months after a fatal home atop a coal mine, Alabama says it no longer plans to require monitoring of explosive gases under homes. Full story: insideclimatenews.org/news/0310202...
Will Berry is opposed to the execution of the man who took his mother’s life. Here’s what he told Alabama’s governor. www.treadbylee.com/p/justice-de...
September 25, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Will Berry is opposed to the execution of the man who took his mother’s life. Here’s what he told Alabama’s governor. www.treadbylee.com/p/justice-de...
Alabama won't allow a victim's son to meet the person who took his mother's life before it suffocates the condemned man to death. But they've saved him a seat at the execution he opposes. Full story: www.treadbylee.com/p/justice-de...
September 19, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Alabama won't allow a victim's son to meet the person who took his mother's life before it suffocates the condemned man to death. But they've saved him a seat at the execution he opposes. Full story: www.treadbylee.com/p/justice-de...
20 years ago, when I was just 11 years old, my family hunkered down for Hurricane Katrina in a trailer in south Mobile County, just a few miles from the Gulf. Read my latest, a #HurricaneKatrina remembrance, in @insideclimatenews.org. insideclimatenews.org/news/2808202...
August 29, 2025 at 12:43 PM
20 years ago, when I was just 11 years old, my family hunkered down for Hurricane Katrina in a trailer in south Mobile County, just a few miles from the Gulf. Read my latest, a #HurricaneKatrina remembrance, in @insideclimatenews.org. insideclimatenews.org/news/2808202...
"[Drummond] shouldn’t be shipping coal to the state of Israel in the first place, given Israel’s persistent human rights record,” one protester told @insideclimatenews.org near the company's corporate campus on Friday. Full story: insideclimatenews.org/news/2208202...
August 22, 2025 at 4:29 PM
"[Drummond] shouldn’t be shipping coal to the state of Israel in the first place, given Israel’s persistent human rights record,” one protester told @insideclimatenews.org near the company's corporate campus on Friday. Full story: insideclimatenews.org/news/2208202...
The latest from Bessemer, @insideclimatenews.org's seventh story on the proposed hyperscale data center slated to use more electricity than 90 times the power consumed by every home in the city combined. insideclimatenews.org/news/2108202...
August 21, 2025 at 11:38 AM
The latest from Bessemer, @insideclimatenews.org's seventh story on the proposed hyperscale data center slated to use more electricity than 90 times the power consumed by every home in the city combined. insideclimatenews.org/news/2108202...
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/2507202...
July 25, 2025 at 12:04 PM
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/2507202...
My colleague @dennispillion.bsky.social 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: insideclimatenews.org/news/2107202...
July 21, 2025 at 9:49 PM
My colleague @dennispillion.bsky.social 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: insideclimatenews.org/news/2107202...
A local water utility told data center developers in Alabama it could not provide the 2 million gallons of water per day they've requested without "significant upgrades." Full story: insideclimatenews.org/news/1207202...
July 12, 2025 at 4:52 PM
A local water utility told data center developers in Alabama it could not provide the 2 million gallons of water per day they've requested without "significant upgrades." Full story: insideclimatenews.org/news/1207202...
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 @insideclimatenews.org: insideclimatenews.org/news/0807202...
July 8, 2025 at 11:30 AM
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 @insideclimatenews.org: insideclimatenews.org/news/0807202...
"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/1606202...
June 17, 2025 at 4:57 PM
"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/1606202...
It can be hard to get a meeting with a mayor who's signed an NDA. When one man placed a sign outside an Alabama city hall opposing the construction of a massive data center, he was immediately confronted by police. Full story from @insideclimatenews.org: insideclimatenews.org/news/1606202...
June 16, 2025 at 4:51 PM
It can be hard to get a meeting with a mayor who's signed an NDA. When one man placed a sign outside an Alabama city hall opposing the construction of a massive data center, he was immediately confronted by police. Full story from @insideclimatenews.org: insideclimatenews.org/news/1606202...
Trump's budget would cut funding for state mining regulators by about 16%. Even regulators in deep red states like Alabama are worried about the impacts. Full story from @insideclimatenews.org: insideclimatenews.org/news/1306202...
June 13, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Trump's budget would cut funding for state mining regulators by about 16%. Even regulators in deep red states like Alabama are worried about the impacts. Full story from @insideclimatenews.org: insideclimatenews.org/news/1306202...
“There’s always been a public perception that she’s sympathetic toward Alabama Power,” political scientist David Hughes said. “And it’s more than just perception.” More from @insideclimatenews.org: insideclimatenews.org/news/2905202...
May 29, 2025 at 9:56 PM
“There’s always been a public perception that she’s sympathetic toward Alabama Power,” political scientist David Hughes said. “And it’s more than just perception.” More from @insideclimatenews.org: insideclimatenews.org/news/2905202...
Across the state, Alabama Power's toxic coal ash is being stored in unlined ponds, often in contact with groundwater. @coosariverkeeper.bsky.social has announced their intent to sue the utility over its continued pollution in Gadsden. insideclimatenews.org/news/2005202...
May 20, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Across the state, Alabama Power's toxic coal ash is being stored in unlined ponds, often in contact with groundwater. @coosariverkeeper.bsky.social has announced their intent to sue the utility over its continued pollution in Gadsden. insideclimatenews.org/news/2005202...
I reached out to the mayor for comment on a proposed data center that would use 90 times the power of all the homes in his city. Unfortunately, he and other public officials have signed non-disclosure agreements and aren't answering questions. Full story: insideclimatenews.org/news/1105202...
May 12, 2025 at 3:41 PM
I reached out to the mayor for comment on a proposed data center that would use 90 times the power of all the homes in his city. Unfortunately, he and other public officials have signed non-disclosure agreements and aren't answering questions. Full story: insideclimatenews.org/news/1105202...
Residents in and around this Alabama city want answers about what may be one of the largest data centers in the world, built right in their backyards, but their mayor and various staff have signed non-disclosure agreements with the developer. Full story: insideclimatenews.org/news/1105202...
May 11, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Residents in and around this Alabama city want answers about what may be one of the largest data centers in the world, built right in their backyards, but their mayor and various staff have signed non-disclosure agreements with the developer. Full story: insideclimatenews.org/news/1105202...