As part of our “2020 Journalists’ Guide to Energy & Environment [2]” to help reporters track the stories coming their way this year, SEJournal Online looks ahead to major developments on the beat — from Washington, D.C. to the Arctic, from public lands to fossil fuels. We also explore pending news on transportation, agriculture, nukes, federal funding, freedom of information and even algae. Also under our gaze, key facets of the climate story. Read our overview analysis and then dive deep into the full offering of special Backgrounders, TipSheets and WatchDogs.

Despite warnings that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would be dismantled under the Trump administration, it remains very much alive, thanks to the realities of politics and litigation. Yet its staffing, enforcement and science advisory roles remain under the gun. In the latest of our Backgrounders for the “2020 Journalists’ Guide to Energy & Environment,” we read the tea leaves on the future of the EPA.

A young journalist looking for a quick report found himself instead on a five-month odyssey to cover the hidden dangers of abandoned mining sites in the Southwest — then picked up a Society of Environmental Journalists’ student award in the aftermath. How this student’s persistence paid off, in the latest EJ Academy. 

This election year, environmental issues like climate change may well break the pattern of past campaigns, where they seemed to recede as voting approached. Our latest entry in our “2020 Journalists’ Guide to Energy & Environment [2]” explains how green politics may shape both national and state/local races in the months to come, and provides resources for reporters to track that rapidly changing landscape.