Get more Voices of Environmental Justice in 2026, as we increase column frequency to bimonthly. And for her first contribution of the year, writer Yessenia Funes calls on climate reporters to offer audiences a sense of hope by leaning into solutions narratives, hard-hitting and data-driven stories that hold the powerful accountable. Expert advice on how to make solutions journalism work.
Bird populations remain in steep decline, mostly due to human activity. But as the latest TipSheet reports, reporting on the disappearance of our avian residents can lead journalists to some bread-and-butter environmental stories: whether about local ecosystems, climate change, chemicals, land disturbance and more. Read on for more, including nearly a dozen-and-a-half story ideas and reporting resources.
More heat pumps than ever are going into homes and businesses in the United States these days. But they are just one small-scale use of geothermal energy, a promising utility-scale technology that is growing worldwide — and with a minimal carbon footprint to boot. But there are drawbacks as well. The new Issue Backgrounder explains how it all works.
"At the North American International Auto Show, tires squeal as gearheads put shiny new vehicles through their paces on a pair of indoor tracks that sprawl across the event space. One of those tracks used to be set aside exclusively for electric vehicles as U.S. automakers sought to quickly build out the cars of the future."
"A federal judge issued a temporary injunction, allowing the developer of Empire Wind, an offshore wind project off the coast of Long Island, to resume construction after the Trump administration suspended work there in late December."
"Earth’s average temperature last year hovered among one of the three hottest on record, while the past three years indicate that warming could be speeding up, international climate monitoring teams reported."
"As electricity prices climb, an unusual disconnect is emerging between what regular people pay — and what data centers pay."
"Record insured losses from wildfires, storms and floods hit $98 billion globally last year, with L.A. County’s January wildfires the costliest disaster of 2025."
"Wyoming is poised to become an artificial-intelligence powerhouse after Laramie County commissioners last week unanimously voted to move forward with the construction of a 1.8 gigawatt data center designed to eventually scale up to 10 gigawatts, which would be the largest single AI campus in the U.S. "
"Decades of water depletion, dam building and repression of scientists and environmentalists have driven Iran toward ecological crises that are fueling protests rocking the country."
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