Publication Items

Solutions Stories a Compass for Readers [1]

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.

SEJ Publication Types:
Voices of Environmental Justice [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Disasters [4]
Economy & Business [5]
Environmental Studies [6]
Health [7]
Journalism & Media [8]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
California [10]
International [11]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Solutions Stories a Compass for Readers [1]
Top Environment and Energy Topics To Watch in 2026 [13]

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 [13].

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [14]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [15]
Agriculture [16]
Air [17]
Biodiversity [18]
Chemicals [19]
Climate Change [3]
Disasters [4]
Economy & Business [5]
Energy & Fuel [20]
Environmental Health [21]
Environmental Justice [22]
Environmental Politics [23]
Environmental Studies [6]
Fish & Fisheries [24]
Forests [25]
Government [26]
Health [7]
Infrastructure [27]
Journalism & Media [8]
Laws & Regulations [28]
Military [29]
Natural Resources [30]
Policy [31]
Pollution [32]
Science [33]
Technology [34]
Waste [35]
Water & Oceans [36]
Wildlife [37]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
Alaska and Hawaii [38]
California [10]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [39]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [40]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [41]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [42]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [43]
Northwest (OR WA) [44]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [45]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [46]
International [11]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Top Environment and Energy Topics To Watch in 2026 [13]
Orphans and Zombies — Reporting on Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells Across the Country [47]

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 [48]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [16]
Air [17]
Climate Change [3]
Economy & Business [5]
Energy & Fuel [20]
Environmental Health [21]
Government [26]
Health [7]
Journalism & Media [8]
Laws & Regulations [28]
Natural Resources [30]
Policy [31]
Pollution [32]
Technology [34]
Water & Oceans [36]
Wildlife [37]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [39]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [40]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [41]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [42]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [46]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Orphans and Zombies — Reporting on Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells Across the Country [47]
The Cost of Losing Our ‘Sacred Acres’ [49]

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 [50]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [16]
Climate Change [3]
Consumer [51]
Economy & Business [5]
Food [52]
Natural Resources [30]
Policy [31]
Science [33]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
International [11]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about The Cost of Losing Our ‘Sacred Acres’ [49]
Tapping Into COP30 To Cover Indigenous Issues [53]

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 [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [16]
Biodiversity [18]
Climate Change [3]
Economy & Business [5]
Energy & Fuel [20]
Environmental Health [21]
Environmental Justice [22]
Environmental Politics [23]
Forests [25]
Government [26]
Journalism & Media [8]
Natural Resources [30]
People & Population [54]
Planning & Growth [55]
Policy [31]
Pollution [32]
Water & Oceans [36]
Region:
International [11]
South America [56]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Tapping Into COP30 To Cover Indigenous Issues [53]
Why Media Consolidation Threatens Press Freedom, Democracy [57]

Speeding media mergers — the latest examples being Paramount’s hookup with CBS and its recent pursuit of CNN parent Warner Bros. Discovery — could have serious societal repercussions, argues WatchDog Opinion. Among them: the risks of growing government control and political censorship. But a glimmer of hope comes from another, quieter, revolution that might just be the saving grace for independent accountability journalism.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [58]
Topics on the Beat:
Economy & Business [5]
Government [26]
Journalism & Media [8]
Policy [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Why Media Consolidation Threatens Press Freedom, Democracy [57]
Toxic Fashion — A ‘Between the Lines’ Author Q&A [59]

A simple query about harmful chemicals in airline attendant uniforms started sustainable fashion writer Alden Wicker down a reporting path that uncovered a long history of toxic fashion, took her to India and ultimately inspired her award-winning book, “To Dye For.” In this BookShelf interview, Wicker talks about the challenges, the surprises and the choices made in telling this little-known story.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [50]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [19]
Consumer [51]
Economy & Business [5]
Environmental Justice [22]
Health [7]
Journalism & Media [8]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
International [11]
Asia [60]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Toxic Fashion — A ‘Between the Lines’ Author Q&A [59]
Climate Solutions, for Some, May Not Be [61]

A small Louisiana community, home to the descendants of formerly enslaved Black people, continues to fight for its freedom many decades later, this time from a potentially polluting technology. FEJ StoryLog contributor Yessenia Funes recounts her journey to this Cancer Alley community, where a grant from the Fund for Environmental Journalism helped her tell the story of residents challenging a multibillion-dollar carbon capture plant.

SEJ Publication Types:
FEJ StoryLog [62]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [15]
Air [17]
Chemicals [19]
Climate Change [3]
Economy & Business [5]
Energy & Fuel [20]
Environmental Health [21]
Environmental Justice [22]
Environmental Politics [23]
Journalism & Media [8]
People & Population [54]
Planning & Growth [55]
Policy [31]
Pollution [32]
Science [33]
Technology [34]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [45]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Climate Solutions, for Some, May Not Be [61]
Lapses in Enforcement by Trump's EPA May Yield Local Environment Stories [63]

Enforcement has usually been serious business at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Now it seems many pollution laws are going unpoliced. TipSheet explains how the EPA’s own resources can help investigative reporters find violations, track regulatory actions and uncover nationwide patterns of corporate mismanagement.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [64]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [17]
Chemicals [19]
Economy & Business [5]
Energy & Fuel [20]
Environmental Health [21]
Environmental Justice [22]
Environmental Politics [23]
Government [26]
Health [7]
Journalism & Media [8]
Laws & Regulations [28]
Pollution [32]
Waste [35]
Water & Oceans [36]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Lapses in Enforcement by Trump's EPA May Yield Local Environment Stories [63]
Tainted Water, Tainted Power — Inside a Hog-Farm Empire [65]

A powerful politician and his family’s groundwater-polluting agricultural business were the focus of an award-winning series that delved into the intersection of politics, power, privilege and regulatory capture. In the latest Inside Story Q&A, journalist Yanqi Xu discusses how the reporting uncovered deep and unexpected impacts on small town economies, water quality and the living conditions of the hog farms’ neighbors.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [66]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [16]
Chemicals [19]
Economy & Business [5]
Environmental Health [21]
Environmental Justice [22]
Environmental Politics [23]
Health [7]
Journalism & Media [8]
People & Population [54]
Pollution [32]
Waste [35]
Water & Oceans [36]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [40]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Tainted Water, Tainted Power — Inside a Hog-Farm Empire [65]

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