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]
Queer Ecology — A Powerful Lens for Reporting on Environmental Injustice [53]

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 [55]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [14]
Environmental Studies [15]
Health [19]
Journalism & Media [21]
People & Population [48]
Planning & Growth [56]
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 [53]
Tapping Into COP30 To Cover Indigenous Issues [57]

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 [58]
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 [56]
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 [57]
Saving Big Cats From Humans [59]

As expanded development on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula encroaches on prime wildlife habitat, big cats find it harder to avoid people, and many wind up dead. In this Inside Story Q&A, Liza Gross of Inside Climate News describes how she and photographer/editor Michael Kodas worked with a local cougar protection team to track a family of big cats to their den and through the area.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [60]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [6]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Studies [15]
Forests [17]
Journalism & Media [21]
People & Population [48]
Science [27]
Wildlife [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [32]
Northwest (OR WA) [40]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about Saving Big Cats From Humans [59]
Solutions — and Death — in the Rainforest [61]

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 [62]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [4]
Biodiversity [6]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Politics [14]
Forests [17]
Journalism & Media [21]
Natural Resources [24]
Planning & Growth [56]
Region:
International [43]
South America [52]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about Solutions — and Death — in the Rainforest [61]
From Fear to Fascination — A New Insect Narrative [63]

Media coverage of “bugs” is often sensationalistic and centered on fear and disgust. But conservation photographer and writer Danae Wolfe says journalists should be highlighting the importance, beauty and plight of insects and spiders. Reporting that offers alternative perspectives on these essential creatures can inspire curiosity and admiration, and encourage efforts to protect them. Wolfe on why to write about insects.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [54]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Agriculture [4]
Biodiversity [6]
Chemicals [7]
Climate Change [8]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Studies [15]
Food [47]
Forests [17]
Journalism & Media [21]
Pollution [26]
Science [27]
Wildlife [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [32]
International [43]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about From Fear to Fascination — A New Insect Narrative [63]
Why Now’s the Time To Tell a Good Fish Tale [64]

With fishing season underway across the United States, reporters have a line to an array of great, local environmental stories, whether about the recreation and tourism industries or overfishing and the health of regional ecosystems. The latest TipSheet has more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources to help you reel in an angle of your own.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [65]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Biodiversity [6]
Climate Change [8]
Environmental Health [12]
Fish & Fisheries [16]
Food [47]
Journalism & Media [21]
Natural Resources [24]
Water & Oceans [30]
Wildlife [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [32]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about Why Now’s the Time To Tell a Good Fish Tale [64]
Environmentalists Will Be Seeing Trump Forces in Court — Often [66]

The judiciary is looking to become a major environmental battleground for journalists to watch in the coming months and years, as activists confront the Trump administration over its deregulatory campaign. The new Issue Backgrounder maps out the action, explaining how key laws foster citizen suits, while numerous nonprofits are staffed up to sue. Plus, some ways to track the action.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [67]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Air [5]
Biodiversity [6]
Chemicals [7]
Climate Change [8]
Consumer [68]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [14]
Government [18]
Infrastructure [20]
Journalism & Media [21]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Natural Resources [24]
Policy [25]
Pollution [26]
Waste [29]
Water & Oceans [30]
Wildlife [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [32]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about Environmentalists Will Be Seeing Trump Forces in Court — Often [66]
#SEJ2025 — Confronting the Past, Surviving the Future [69]

Next week, hundreds of environmental journalists are expected to gather in Arizona for #SEJ2025, the Society of Environmental Journalists’ expansive annual conference. Co-chair Kendal Blust has highlights of the four-day event, plus how the challenges facing the Southwest are those of communities across the United States, and why now is a critical time for journalists to come together. Read her rundown [69] and register now [70], before the April 16 midnight deadline.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [4]
Biodiversity [6]
Climate Change [8]
Energy & Fuel [11]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [14]
Fish & Fisheries [16]
Food [47]
Government [18]
Health [19]
Journalism & Media [21]
Natural Resources [24]
People & Population [48]
Planning & Growth [56]
Policy [25]
Pollution [26]
Science [27]
Water & Oceans [30]
Wildlife [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [32]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [42]
International [43]
Mexico [71]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about #SEJ2025 — Confronting the Past, Surviving the Future [69]

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