Publication Items

Decarbonizing Energy Systems With Clean Firm Power [1]

Solar and wind power are critical for combating climate change, but some energy experts warn they won’t be enough. Their vision for an emissions-free grid depends on technologies ranging from long-duration batteries to nuclear reactors. Journalist Nicolás Rivero on clean firm power’s potential, the challenges ahead and how Big Tech is driving the pursuit of always-on zero-carbon electricity.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Economy & Business [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Government [6]
Infrastructure [7]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [8]
Policy [9]
Pollution [10]
Science [11]
Technology [12]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [14]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [15]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [16]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Decarbonizing Energy Systems With Clean Firm Power [1]
Oysters, Boisterous or Scarce, Fuel Local Environment Stories [18]

The world may be your oyster, but if you’re an environmental journalist, the oyster may also be your story. The latest TipSheet points out (amid numerous tasty serving tips) that oysters say a great deal about the health of local waters … and of the humans who consume the mollusk. Get a dozen-plus oyster story ideas and reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [19]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [20]
Environmental Health [21]
Fish & Fisheries [22]
Food [23]
Health [24]
Journalism & Media [25]
Natural Resources [26]
Pollution [10]
Water & Oceans [27]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
California [28]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [16]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [29]
Northwest (OR WA) [30]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [31]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Oysters, Boisterous or Scarce, Fuel Local Environment Stories [18]
National Seashores Are a Secret Summer Treasure [32]

While less heralded than its national park system, the United States abounds in waterfront treasures that are part of the national seashore and lakeshore program. The latest TipSheet takes you on a guided tour of more than a dozen, from barrier islands and dunes to tidepools and turtles. Plus, a half-dozen reporting ideas for your own region.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [19]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [6]
Journalism & Media [25]
Laws & Regulations [33]
Natural Resources [26]
Water & Oceans [27]
Region:
California [28]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [14]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [16]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [29]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [31]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [34]
International [35]
Canada [36]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about National Seashores Are a Secret Summer Treasure [32]
Top Environment and Energy Topics To Watch in 2026 [37]

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 [37].

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [38]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [39]
Agriculture [40]
Air [41]
Biodiversity [20]
Chemicals [42]
Climate Change [3]
Disasters [43]
Economy & Business [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Health [21]
Environmental Justice [44]
Environmental Politics [45]
Environmental Studies [46]
Fish & Fisheries [22]
Forests [47]
Government [6]
Health [24]
Infrastructure [7]
Journalism & Media [25]
Laws & Regulations [33]
Military [48]
Natural Resources [26]
Policy [9]
Pollution [10]
Science [11]
Technology [12]
Waste [49]
Water & Oceans [27]
Wildlife [50]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Alaska and Hawaii [51]
California [28]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [14]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [15]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [16]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [52]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [29]
Northwest (OR WA) [30]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [31]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [34]
International [35]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Top Environment and Energy Topics To Watch in 2026 [37]
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 [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [40]
Air [41]
Climate Change [3]
Economy & Business [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Health [21]
Government [6]
Health [24]
Journalism & Media [25]
Laws & Regulations [33]
Natural Resources [26]
Policy [9]
Pollution [10]
Technology [12]
Water & Oceans [27]
Wildlife [50]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [14]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [15]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [16]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [52]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [34]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Orphans and Zombies — Reporting on Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells Across the Country [53]
Coastal Flooding Challenges Cities Around the U.S. [54]

The United States has nearly 100,000 miles of coastline and much of it is at risk of flooding. But what that inundation looks like varies widely from place to place. From storm surges to land subsidence, the latest Backgrounder details the different types of flooding and the threats they pose to coastal communities, especially sea level cities.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [55]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Disasters [43]
Infrastructure [7]
Journalism & Media [25]
Water & Oceans [27]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Alaska and Hawaii [51]
California [28]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [14]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [16]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [29]
Northwest (OR WA) [30]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [31]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [34]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Coastal Flooding Challenges Cities Around the U.S. [54]
Wildfire Smoke Is Showing Up Everywhere. It Can Be Fatal [56]

Wildfire’s immensely destructive power is not just about what it burns. The smoke from more frequent fires, too, has real potential to harm human health, the new Backgrounder explains, releasing particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides and worse. Learn more about the hazards and historical perspective, along with what journalists should tell their communities can be done.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [55]
Topics on the Beat:
Planning & Growth [57]
Policy [9]
Pollution [10]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
California [28]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [14]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [16]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [52]
International [35]
Canada [36]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Wildfire Smoke Is Showing Up Everywhere. It Can Be Fatal [56]
How the Potomac Imparts the Capital’s Story [58]

The Potomac is one of the most prominent rivers in the United States, a defining ecological feature of Washington, D.C., at the same time it reveals the city’s history of racial inequality and disenfranchisement. Writer, historian, educator and herbalist Charlotte Taylor Fryar recounts that tale in her ambitious “Potomac Fever,” reviewed in the latest BookShelf by contributing editor Jennifer Weeks, herself a Washington native.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [59]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Health [21]
Environmental Justice [44]
Environmental Politics [45]
Natural Resources [26]
People & Population [60]
Pollution [10]
Water & Oceans [27]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [16]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about How the Potomac Imparts the Capital’s Story [58]
Follow the Money … for Lobbying State Legislatures [61]

With many states dominated by a few powerful industries — whether oil, mining or agriculture — the influence of campaign dollars can have an outsize effect on legislation, even to the point of corruption, notes the latest Reporter’s Toolbox. So while the U.S. Congress may be languishing, environmental journalists can dig up stories on lobbying at the state level using a powerful data source.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [62]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [39]
Agriculture [40]
Economy & Business [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Politics [45]
Government [6]
Journalism & Media [25]
Laws & Regulations [33]
Policy [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [15]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [16]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [34]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Follow the Money … for Lobbying State Legislatures [61]
New Angle for Reporting on Oil and Gas Industry — Radioactive Waste [63]

Industry experts and government regulators have long known that radionuclides reside in oil and natural gas. Yet radioactive emissions and waste continue to threaten the lives of workers and community members across the country. Investigative journalist Justin Nobel on the opportunities and urgent need for reporters to drill into a story steeped in questions of accountability, health and justice.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [39]
Air [41]
Chemicals [42]
Climate Change [3]
Consumer [64]
Economy & Business [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Health [21]
Environmental Politics [45]
Environmental Studies [46]
Government [6]
Health [24]
Journalism & Media [25]
Laws & Regulations [33]
Natural Resources [26]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [8]
People & Population [60]
Policy [9]
Pollution [10]
Science [11]
Technology [12]
Waste [49]
Water & Oceans [27]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [14]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [15]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [16]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [52]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [29]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [31]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [34]
International [35]
Canada [36]
South America [65]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about New Angle for Reporting on Oil and Gas Industry — Radioactive Waste [63]

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