Government

Environmental journalist Khalid Bencherif struggled to bring the emergent effects of climate change to the attention of local audiences facing many other pressing problems. So he told a powerful story grounded in personal experience, traveling to his childhood home in Morocco’s Tafilalet region, where deepening drought is hitting the oases hard and driving many villagers from their homes.

Even as the climate crisis countdown story continues, a wide range of environment and energy issues are on journalists’ watchlist for the year ahead, per an analysis from our “2022 Journalists’ Guide to Energy & Environment.” The overview looks at 13 key trends to track in 2022 and beyond — including infrastructure, pandemics, environmental justice, energy, chemicals, plastics and, of course, climate.

As the Society of Environmental Journalists prepares for its annual conference in Houston this March, the SEJournal asked Texas-based reporter Greg Harman to explore the Lone Star State's most critical stories for 2022. Here, in this special Texas-focused TipSheet, are leads, resources, encouragements and challenges.

With billions of infrastructure dollars now on the table to clean up orphan oil wells, states are already elbowing their way in for a taste. But as our new Backgrounder explains, the process to ensure they cannot pollute the environment or spew climate-change gasses is a complex one. And the sheer (and largely unknown) number of orphaned wells adds to the complications.

Offshore wind, which some see as a panacea in the search for climate-friendly energy solutions, is getting a push from the Biden administration. But as noted in this week’s TipSheet, part of our 2022 Journalists’ Guide to Energy & Environment, there are numerous obstacles to the renewable power source, whether from states, coastal property owners and towns, fishing industry and even some environmentalists.