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]
Taming the Freight Beast [18]

The U.S. freight system delivers significant environmental impacts nationwide, especially in states that host major rail-and-road hubs and seaports. Meanwhile, new federal laws and policies are making it harder to curtail pollution generated by freight trucks, trains and warehouses. Journalist John Lippert looks at how the public, private and nonprofit sectors are rising to this challenge.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [19]
Air [20]
Climate Change [3]
Consumer [21]
Economy & Business [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Health [22]
Environmental Justice [23]
Environmental Politics [24]
Government [6]
Health [25]
Infrastructure [7]
Journalism & Media [26]
Laws & Regulations [27]
Policy [9]
Pollution [10]
Technology [12]
Transportation [28]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
California [29]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [14]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Taming the Freight Beast [18]
Great Lakes Steelmaking at a Crossroads [30]

The Great Lakes region is a top steel producer, but its coal-fired steel mills are also a major source of planet-warming emissions and health-harming pollution. Climate advocates, community members and workers have been pushing to clean up these facilities for decades. Now, foreign funding offers new hope for revitalizing and decarbonizing the region’s steel industry. Canary Media’s Maria Gallucci explains.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [19]
Air [20]
Climate Change [3]
Economy & Business [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Politics [24]
Government [6]
Health [25]
Natural Resources [31]
Pollution [10]
Technology [12]
Water & Oceans [32]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [14]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [33]
International [34]
Asia [35]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Great Lakes Steelmaking at a Crossroads [30]
National Seashores Are a Secret Summer Treasure [36]

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 [37]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [6]
Journalism & Media [26]
Laws & Regulations [27]
Natural Resources [31]
Water & Oceans [32]
Region:
California [29]
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) [38]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [33]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [39]
International [34]
Canada [40]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about National Seashores Are a Secret Summer Treasure [36]
#SEJ2026 Live — Coverage of Conference Tours [41]

SEJournal is providing full coverage of all eight of the day-long tours from the annual Society of Environmental Journalists’ conference, April 15-18, in Chicago. In Part 2, contributors Meg Duff [42], Nathaniel Eisen [43], Nhung Nguyen [44] and Marlowe Starling [45] provide detailed reports from tours focused on the transitioning steel industry, microgrids, climate-friendly crop practices and evolving Midwestern agricultural systems.

Also check out the first round of tour coverage and read all the great work [41] from our team of early-career freelance journalists, part of SEJournal’s live #SEJ2026 Live conference reporting.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [46]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [19]
Agriculture [47]
Air [20]
Biodiversity [48]
Chemicals [49]
Climate Change [3]
Consumer [21]
Economy & Business [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Health [22]
Environmental Justice [23]
Environmental Politics [24]
Environmental Studies [50]
Food [51]
Forests [52]
Government [6]
Health [25]
Infrastructure [7]
Journalism & Media [26]
Laws & Regulations [27]
Natural Resources [31]
People & Population [53]
Planning & Growth [54]
Policy [9]
Pollution [10]
Science [11]
Technology [12]
Transportation [28]
Waste [55]
Water & Oceans [32]
Wildlife [56]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [14]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about #SEJ2026 Live — Coverage of Conference Tours [41]
War and Pizza — #SEJ2026 in Chicago [57]

Nearly as rejuvenating as attending the Society of Environmental Journalists’ annual gathering is perusing the après-conference spoof by contributing quipster David Helvarg. While it seemed he was mostly there unabashedly preselling his forthcoming book, he somehow found time to send up SEJ’s earnest sessions, lambast its blown-up tours and rib its beat dinners. Read his Chicago roast.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [46]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [47]
Air [20]
Chemicals [49]
Climate Change [3]
Economy & Business [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Health [22]
Environmental Justice [23]
Environmental Politics [24]
Fish & Fisheries [58]
Government [6]
Health [25]
Journalism & Media [26]
Natural Resources [31]
Policy [9]
Pollution [10]
Science [11]
Waste [55]
Water & Oceans [32]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [14]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about War and Pizza — #SEJ2026 in Chicago [57]
Why the Silencing of Protest Matters [59]

As the Trump administration and its allies seek to stifle free speech and paint protest as domestic terrorism, Voices columnist Yessenia Funes argues that environmental journalists must heed the impact on the environmental movement we cover. Start with what happened in Standing Rock, which swept back into the news this spring. Funes explains the connection, and where we may be headed.

SEJ Publication Types:
Voices of Environmental Justice [60]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [19]
Climate Change [3]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Health [22]
Environmental Justice [23]
Environmental Politics [24]
Government [6]
Journalism & Media [26]
Natural Resources [31]
People & Population [53]
Policy [9]
Pollution [10]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [61]
Water & Oceans [32]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [14]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [15]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [33]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Why the Silencing of Protest Matters [59]
Helping Students Learn the Hard Work of Journalism [62]

Two flourishing nonprofit programs teach young writers the basics of journalism and environmental reporting — mentoring and paying students, who publish enterprise and public records stories, personal essays and narrative features. Read more about Florida Student News Watch with CD Davidson-Hiers [62] and Indiana’s climate solutions-focused Youth Environmental Press Team with Jim Poyser [63], in the new EJ Academy.

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ Academy [64]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [47]
Climate Change [3]
Government [6]
Water & Oceans [32]
Wildlife [56]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [14]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [15]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [65]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [33]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [39]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Helping Students Learn the Hard Work of Journalism [62]
The Joy of Rewilding [66]

Rewilding is a global movement to restore natural processes and boost biodiversity. It’s also the name of an online magazine launched by journalists Kat Tancock and Domini Clark. Their goal? To expose more people to the concept and inspire action through positive storytelling. Co-founder Tancock on the magazine’s editorial vision, opportunities for freelancers to contribute and what rewilding means to her.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [19]
Agriculture [47]
Biodiversity [48]
Climate Change [3]
Environmental Health [22]
Journalism & Media [26]
Science [11]
Wildlife [56]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [14]
International [34]
Canada [40]
Mexico [67]
Europe [68]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about The Joy of Rewilding [66]
A Town Derailed, a Trust Obtained [69]

The devastating 2023 East Palestine, Ohio, toxic train derailment left a legacy of illness and a town torn by competing understandings of the contamination’s aftereffects. A yearlong reporting initiative with photojournalist Rebecca Kiger and Time magazine writer Alejandro de la Garza worked to gain the community’s confidence and tell its story. Their prize-winning feature, in the latest Inside Story Q&A.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [70]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [20]
Chemicals [49]
Disasters [71]
Environmental Health [22]
Environmental Justice [23]
Health [25]
Journalism & Media [26]
People & Population [53]
Pollution [10]
Science [11]
Transportation [28]
Water & Oceans [32]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [14]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about A Town Derailed, a Trust Obtained [69]

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