Publication Items

Top Environment and Energy Topics To Watch in 2026 [1]

Explore our 10th annual Journalists’ Guide to Environment + Energy, as we scour the beat to identify 15 top stories to put on your radar for 2026. Our updated format for the special report provides a quick read and a broad scope — with insights on climate change and environmental justice, bird and insect declines, data centers and deep sea mining, deregulation and PFAS and much more. Get started here [1].

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Agriculture [4]
Air [5]
Biodiversity [6]
Chemicals [7]
Climate Change [8]
Disasters [9]
Economy & Business [10]
Energy & Fuel [11]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [14]
Environmental Studies [15]
Fish & Fisheries [16]
Forests [17]
Government [18]
Health [19]
Infrastructure [20]
Journalism & Media [21]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Military [23]
Natural Resources [24]
Policy [25]
Pollution [26]
Science [27]
Technology [28]
Waste [29]
Water & Oceans [30]
Wildlife [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [32]
Alaska and Hawaii [33]
California [34]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [35]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [36]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [37]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [38]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [39]
Northwest (OR WA) [40]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [41]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [42]
International [43]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about Top Environment and Energy Topics To Watch in 2026 [1]
From Words to Frames — Writer Learns To Wield Power of Visual Storytelling [45]

When writer Gulnaz Khan saw how global warming drove both natural loss and spiritual breaks for surrounding human communities, it started her on a PBS documentary series exploring sacred sites around the world threatened by climate change. But she also undertook another odyssey, one from writer to visual storyteller. What she learned on her journey from text to screen, in the new EJ InSight column.

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ InSight [46]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [4]
Biodiversity [6]
Climate Change [8]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Justice [13]
Food [47]
Forests [17]
Government [18]
Health [19]
Journalism & Media [21]
Natural Resources [24]
People & Population [48]
Pollution [26]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [49]
Science [27]
Waste [29]
Water & Oceans [30]
Wildlife [31]
Region:
International [43]
Africa [50]
Asia [51]
South America [52]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about From Words to Frames — Writer Learns To Wield Power of Visual Storytelling [45]
Orphans and Zombies — Reporting on Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells Across the Country [53]

For more than a century, oil and gas companies have been drilling — and abandoning — wells across the country, leaving hundreds of thousands to potentially leak pollutants into the air, water and soil. Climate and environment reporter Martha Pskowski looks at how funding and regulatory issues are impacting efforts to identify and plug these wells, and offers resources for drilling into their story.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [54]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [4]
Air [5]
Climate Change [8]
Economy & Business [10]
Energy & Fuel [11]
Environmental Health [12]
Government [18]
Health [19]
Journalism & Media [21]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Natural Resources [24]
Policy [25]
Pollution [26]
Technology [28]
Water & Oceans [30]
Wildlife [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [32]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [35]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [36]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [37]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [38]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [42]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about Orphans and Zombies — Reporting on Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells Across the Country [53]
The Cost of Losing Our ‘Sacred Acres’ [55]

In “We Are Eating the Earth,” author Michael Grunwald explains masterfully how good intentions have led us astray over our food system and climate change, writes BookShelf editor Tom Henry. Whether it’s our obsession with meat, myths about biofuels and regenerative agriculture, or feel-good ideas based on bad science, Grunwald argues it’s time for a fundamental shift in values.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [56]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [4]
Climate Change [8]
Consumer [57]
Economy & Business [10]
Food [47]
Natural Resources [24]
Policy [25]
Science [27]
Region:
National (U.S.) [32]
International [43]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about The Cost of Losing Our ‘Sacred Acres’ [55]
At COP30, Amazon Rainforest Is Center Stage for Climate Catastrophe [58]

With the COP30 U.N. climate talks starting this week in Brazil, in the heart of the Amazon River basin, our Issue Backgrounder points out that now is a critical time to consider a central question: Is the mandate to save the immense Amazon rainforest as a way to combat climate change being irretrievably undermined by the vast, destructive forces bringing about the rainforest’s rapid destruction?

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [59]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [4]
Climate Change [8]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Politics [14]
Forests [17]
Natural Resources [24]
Water & Oceans [30]
Region:
International [43]
South America [52]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about At COP30, Amazon Rainforest Is Center Stage for Climate Catastrophe [58]
Queer Ecology — A Powerful Lens for Reporting on Environmental Injustice [60]

Queer ecology is an evolving field that challenges traditional assumptions in science and explores LGBTQ+ experiences in an ecological context. It’s easy to catch your audience’s attention with stories about transitioning clownfish or same-sex albatross parenting. But as contributor Isaias Hernandez explains, queer ecology also offers journalists an important perspective for covering a range of environmental issues, from climate risk to pollution exposure, and reimagining environmental narratives.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [54]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Agriculture [4]
Air [5]
Biodiversity [6]
Climate Change [8]
Disasters [9]
Diversity [61]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [14]
Environmental Studies [15]
Health [19]
Journalism & Media [21]
People & Population [48]
Planning & Growth [62]
Science [27]
Wildlife [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [32]
International [43]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about Queer Ecology — A Powerful Lens for Reporting on Environmental Injustice [60]
Tapping Into COP30 To Cover Indigenous Issues [63]

COP30 negotiators from around the world gather next week in Belém, Brazil, at the mouth of the Amazon River. Our Voices of Environmental Justice columnist Yessenia Funes says it’s a vital opportunity to engage with the Indigenous peoples who help protect the vast rainforest region — even for environmental reporters not there in person. Here’s how to tell their stories.

SEJ Publication Types:
Voices of Environmental Justice [64]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [4]
Biodiversity [6]
Climate Change [8]
Economy & Business [10]
Energy & Fuel [11]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [14]
Forests [17]
Government [18]
Journalism & Media [21]
Natural Resources [24]
People & Population [48]
Planning & Growth [62]
Policy [25]
Pollution [26]
Water & Oceans [30]
Region:
International [43]
South America [52]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about Tapping Into COP30 To Cover Indigenous Issues [63]
Targets on Their Backs … and Ours? Reporting on Immigrant Farmworkers [65]

For years, state-sponsored programs have helped California farmworkers get much-needed access to clean water. But many immigrants now shun these services, afraid of exposure to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. As Circle of Blue intern Anahita Banerjee dug into this story, she discovered that their fear extended to speaking with journalists — and that ICE activities threatened her own safety.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [54]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Agriculture [4]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [14]
Food [47]
Government [18]
Health [19]
Journalism & Media [21]
Laws & Regulations [22]
People & Population [48]
Water & Oceans [30]
Region:
National (U.S.) [32]
California [34]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about Targets on Their Backs … and Ours? Reporting on Immigrant Farmworkers [65]
Crop Cover Database Seeds Local Environment Coverage [66]

Cropland can easily be found time and again at the heart of the key concerns on the environment beat, whether climate, water, chemicals or, of course, land. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox shares a high-quality, mappable database that can serve up stories on more than 100 categories of crops, with numbers drawn from satellite imagery. Plus, a pro tip on using the data smartly.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [67]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [4]
Chemicals [7]
Climate Change [8]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Studies [15]
Food [47]
Journalism & Media [21]
Science [27]
Region:
National (U.S.) [32]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about Crop Cover Database Seeds Local Environment Coverage [66]
Solutions — and Death — in the Rainforest [68]

A project begun to explore ways to protect the Amazon seemed to end with the murder of the journalist who conceived it, along with his guide and research partner. But others picked up the mantle and completed a volume exploring ways to save this precious and rapidly disappearing ecosystem. BookShelf reviewer Elyse Hauser on how this unusual book tries to meet that promise.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [56]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [4]
Biodiversity [6]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Politics [14]
Forests [17]
Journalism & Media [21]
Natural Resources [24]
Planning & Growth [62]
Region:
International [43]
South America [52]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about Solutions — and Death — in the Rainforest [68]

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