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]
Citizen Pollution Monitors Face Industry Pushback, Legal Threats [45]

A steep decline in the enforcement of environmental laws means the monitoring of pollution by citizens is more important than ever. But as the latest TipSheet notes, some states have passed laws that severely constrain the use of citizen monitoring or the sharing of findings. Get the backstory, along with top reporting angles and resources for finding monitoring in your area.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [46]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Air [5]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [14]
Environmental Studies [15]
Government [18]
Health [19]
Journalism & Media [21]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Pollution [26]
Science [27]
Water & Oceans [30]
Region:
National (U.S.) [32]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [41]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about Citizen Pollution Monitors Face Industry Pushback, Legal Threats [45]
Database of Flood Events Helps Cover Catastrophes, Past or Present [47]

A massive trove of mappable water data from the U.S. Geological Survey offers reporters resources to cover present-day flooding threats, compare them to past flood events or help prepare reporting for tomorrow’s disasters. According to the latest Reporter’s Toolbox, its various tools let you pinpoint immediate flooding, map future flood hazards and even configure phone alerts for breaking events.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [48]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [9]
Environmental Studies [15]
Government [18]
Journalism & Media [21]
Water & Oceans [30]
Wildlife [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [32]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about Database of Flood Events Helps Cover Catastrophes, Past or Present [47]
Queer Ecology — A Powerful Lens for Reporting on Environmental Injustice [49]

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 [50]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Agriculture [4]
Air [5]
Biodiversity [6]
Climate Change [8]
Disasters [9]
Diversity [51]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [14]
Environmental Studies [15]
Health [19]
Journalism & Media [21]
People & Population [52]
Planning & Growth [53]
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 [49]
DOE Climate ‘Endangerment’ Report Sparks Stormy Retort [54]

When the Trump Energy Department issued a report this summer questioning a central precept of U.S. climate change policy, it kicked off an angry backlash from scientific experts who fear it undermines decades of peer-reviewed research — and the very basis for climate action. Backgrounder scrutinizes the DOE report and the climate skeptics behind it, as well as the furious response.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [55]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [8]
Environmental Politics [14]
Environmental Studies [15]
Government [18]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Policy [25]
Science [27]
Region:
National (U.S.) [32]
International [43]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about DOE Climate ‘Endangerment’ Report Sparks Stormy Retort [54]
Crop Cover Database Seeds Local Environment Coverage [56]

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 [48]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [4]
Chemicals [7]
Climate Change [8]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Studies [15]
Food [57]
Journalism & Media [21]
Science [27]
Region:
National (U.S.) [32]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about Crop Cover Database Seeds Local Environment Coverage [56]
Trump Administration Icing Out NSIDC Data [58]

An important federal database that tracks Arctic ice and snowmelt — which help address concerns like sea level rise and fresh water resources — is facing funding cuts and reductions in services. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox looks at the kind of high-quality information the National Snow and Ice Data Center can provide environmental reporters, including for local stories. That is, while it lasts.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [48]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [8]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Studies [15]
Journalism & Media [21]
Natural Resources [24]
Science [27]
Water & Oceans [30]
Region:
National (U.S.) [32]
California [34]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [38]
International [43]
Antarctica & Arctic [59]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about Trump Administration Icing Out NSIDC Data [58]
The Time To Make Local Stories With GHG Inventory Data Is Now [60]

If you’re thinking of reporting on major greenhouse gas emitters in your coverage area by using long-standing U.S. government data, better act fast — a key source of that information may soon disappear, warns the latest TipSheet. Find out who’s working to save the numbers, plus get more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [46]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [8]
Environmental Politics [14]
Environmental Studies [15]
Government [18]
Journalism & Media [21]
Policy [25]
Science [27]
Region:
National (U.S.) [32]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about The Time To Make Local Stories With GHG Inventory Data Is Now [60]
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 [53]
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]
Saving Big Cats From Humans [63]

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 [64]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [6]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Studies [15]
Forests [17]
Journalism & Media [21]
People & Population [52]
Science [27]
Wildlife [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [32]
Northwest (OR WA) [40]
Visibility:
Public [44]
- Read more about Saving Big Cats From Humans [63]

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