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]
Orphans and Zombies — Reporting on Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells Across the Country [45]

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 [46]
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 [45]
Data Centers — A Local Drain on Power and Water, Coming to a Community Near You [47]

Thousands of energy-hungry, water-gulping data centers are helping fuel the artificial intelligence boom in the United States (and elsewhere). The latest TipSheet takes a closer look at this escalating phenomenon and encourages environmental journalists to look into how it may be playing out in their communities. Ten story ideas and reporting resources to cover data centers’ local impact.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [48]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [11]
Infrastructure [20]
Journalism & Media [21]
Planning & Growth [49]
Policy [25]
Pollution [26]
Water & Oceans [30]
Region:
National (U.S.) [32]
International [43]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about Data Centers — A Local Drain on Power and Water, Coming to a Community Near You [47]
Tapping Into COP30 To Cover Indigenous Issues [50]

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 [51]
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 [52]
Planning & Growth [49]
Policy [25]
Pollution [26]
Water & Oceans [30]
Region:
International [43]
South America [53]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about Tapping Into COP30 To Cover Indigenous Issues [50]
Will Your Town Pass the Electric School Bus Acid Test? [54]

A Biden-era plan to put billions into school buses, clean EV-style, could be in the rearview mirror under the Trump administration, reports the latest TipSheet. That’s despite the fume-free, greenhouse gas-scarce qualities that benefit the air and the climate, parents and kids. To get in the driver’s seat on this story, here are a half a dozen local story ideas, plus reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [48]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [5]
Climate Change [8]
Energy & Fuel [11]
Environmental Politics [14]
Government [18]
Health [19]
Infrastructure [20]
Journalism & Media [21]
Policy [25]
Pollution [26]
Technology [28]
Transportation [55]
Region:
National (U.S.) [32]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about Will Your Town Pass the Electric School Bus Acid Test? [54]
Coal Ash Is an Issue That Just Won’t Stay Buried [56]

Even as the number of coal-fired power plants declines in the United States, the dangerous coal ash byproducts they generate are found in dumps in every state, threatening to leach toxins into drinking water supplies. The latest TipSheet examines why the problem won’t seem to go away, and offers 10 top story ideas and resources for reporting on coal ash in your locale.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [48]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [11]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Politics [14]
Journalism & Media [21]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Natural Resources [24]
Pollution [26]
Waste [29]
Water & Oceans [30]
Region:
National (U.S.) [32]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about Coal Ash Is an Issue That Just Won’t Stay Buried [56]
Climate Solutions, for Some, May Not Be [57]

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 [58]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Air [5]
Chemicals [7]
Climate Change [8]
Economy & Business [10]
Energy & Fuel [11]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [14]
Journalism & Media [21]
People & Population [52]
Planning & Growth [49]
Policy [25]
Pollution [26]
Science [27]
Technology [28]
Region:
National (U.S.) [32]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [41]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about Climate Solutions, for Some, May Not Be [57]
COP30 — Why It Won’t Save the Planet [59]

Just under two months from the start of the annual global forum for managing climate change — the United Nations’ conference of parties beginning Nov. 10 in Belém, Brazil — our Backgrounder analysis laments the vanishingly small chance that nations will agree on managing steadily rising greenhouse gas emissions. A look at the obstacles, plus COP30 reporting challenges, from hotel expenses to diplomatic spin.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [60]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [8]
Energy & Fuel [11]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [14]
Government [18]
Journalism & Media [21]
Policy [25]
Region:
National (U.S.) [32]
International [43]
South America [53]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about COP30 — Why It Won’t Save the Planet [59]
Trump Climate Science Denial Hinges on … Not Saying the Word [61]

A war on the facts behind climate change — and on the actions to address it — is well underway in the second Trump administration. The new WatchDog Opinion column takes the measure of the battlefront, eyeing key examples of the political onslaught, including a concerted effort to eradicate the very term itself. Regulations killed, research discredited, speech censored and more.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [62]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [8]
Energy & Fuel [11]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [14]
Environmental Studies [15]
Government [18]
Journalism & Media [21]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Planning & Growth [49]
Policy [25]
Science [27]
Region:
National (U.S.) [32]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about Trump Climate Science Denial Hinges on … Not Saying the Word [61]
‘People Will Die’ — Stories Behind Trump Budget Bill [63]

The Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” is anything but, especially in its unraveling of efforts to weave environmental and climate justice into American society, argues the new Voices of Environmental Justice. In her latest column, writer Yessenia Funes calls on journalists to report its ramifications not just for the planet but for the most vulnerable people living on it. Here are key stories to start with.

SEJ Publication Types:
Voices of Environmental Justice [51]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Air [5]
Chemicals [7]
Climate Change [8]
Energy & Fuel [11]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [14]
Government [18]
Health [19]
Infrastructure [20]
Journalism & Media [21]
Laws & Regulations [22]
People & Population [52]
Policy [25]
Pollution [26]
Waste [29]
Water & Oceans [30]
Region:
National (U.S.) [32]
Alaska and Hawaii [33]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [41]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about ‘People Will Die’ — Stories Behind Trump Budget Bill [63]

Pages