Environmental Health

Top Environment and Energy Topics To Watch in 2026

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.

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From Words to Frames — Writer Learns To Wield Power of Visual Storytelling

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.

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"New Report Warns of Critical Climate Risks in Arab Region"

"As global warming accelerates, about 480 million people in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula face intensifying and in some places unsurvivable heat, as well as drought, famine and the risk of mass displacement, the World Meteorological Organization warned Thursday."

Source: Inside Climate News, 12/05/2025

Chesapeake Bay Leaders Agree on Longer Timeline and Tribal Role in Cleanup

"The revised watershed agreement extends pollution-reduction targets and bets on voluntary measures to achieve cleanup goals that have remained elusive for decades."

Source: Inside Climate News, 12/05/2025

"NY City Bill Aims To Ban Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’ In Firefighting Gear"

"A new bill proposed in the New York city council would ban the use of toxic Pfas “forever chemicals” in protective gear worn by the city’s 11,000 firefighters." "Approval of legislation to ban Pfas would be major win for advocates pushing for safer gear alternatives across US"

Source: Guardian, 12/04/2025

Whitmer 7th Governor Urging EPA To Monitor Microplastics In Drinking Water

"Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last week joined governors from six other states signing onto a petition demanding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency add microplastics to its program collecting data on contaminants not currently covered by the Safe Drinking Water Act."

Source: Michigan Advance, 12/04/2025

Trump Loosens Gas Mileage Rule for Cars, Gutting Biden’s Climate Policy

"President Trump on Wednesday threw the weight of the federal government behind vehicles that burn gasoline rather than electric cars, gutting one of the country’s most significant efforts to address climate change and thrusting the automobile industry into greater uncertainty."

Source: NYTimes, 12/04/2025

Trump Admin’s Data Center Push Could Open the Door for New Forever Chemicals

"The EPA is prioritizing review of new chemicals to be used in data centers. Experts say this could lead to the fast approval of new types of forever chemicals — with limited oversight."

Source: WIRED, 12/03/2025

Trump Admin Strips ‘Renewable’ And ‘Energy’ From NREL Laboratory Name

"The Trump administration on Monday stripped the words “renewable” and “energy” from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory name, furthering White House directives to abandon clean energy sources."

Source: The Hill, 12/03/2025

"Trump Admin Backs Monsanto Effort To Limit Roundup Lawsuits Over Glyphosate"

"The Trump administration is backing Monsanto in its effort to get the Supreme Court to shield it from liability over cancer claims related to its Roundup weedkiller, a move that could anger the Trump administration’s allies in the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement."

Source: The Hill, 12/03/2025

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