Start with the monitor, not the release

What does an environment reporter cover?

An environment reporter covers pollution, climate, energy, land and wildlife, plus the regulators, companies and groups that fight over them. On this hub the beat also takes in weather, storms and the disasters that follow them.

Get the reading, the permit or the investigation report from the agency that holds it. Advocacy groups, companies and forecast sites can point you to a story, but the monitoring record is what you cite.

Start here

Environmental agencies and data

Official sources for pollution, energy and health effects. Note the database, the facility ID and the date you pulled each record.

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: The federal environmental regulator. Rules, enforcement actions, news releases and data.
• Envirofacts: Searchable EPA environmental databases. Record which source system each result comes from.
• U.S. Energy Information Administration: Federal energy statistics and analysis from the Department of Energy.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Health topics and outbreak updates. Useful when a heat wave, flood or spill becomes a health story.
• Health Effects Institute: Research on the health effects of air pollution, including air quality near oil and gas development.

Weather and climate

Cite the National Weather Service or NOAA for warnings and records. Commercial sites are fine for context.

• NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information: Historical weather, climate, ocean and magnetic field data. Formed in 2015 from three NOAA data centers, including the National Climatic Data Center.
• NWS NOWData climate records: Daily and monthly climate records by station. Check whether a day or month really set a record.
• Space Science and Engineering Center: University of Wisconsin-Madison center that archives weather satellite data and imagery.
• WxUSA: City forecast portal built on National Weather Service conditions and forecasts.
• The Weather Channel: Commercial forecasts, radar and hurricane coverage. Use the National Weather Service for official warnings.

Disasters and hazards

Confirm casualty and damage numbers with the agency in charge, and say whether they are preliminary.

• U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board: Independent federal agency that investigates industrial chemical accidents. Its reports explain causes.
• USGS National Map: Topographic base maps from the U.S. Geological Survey. Useful for locating a fire, flood or spill.
• Volcano Information Center: Volcano background from a UC Santa Barbara professor emeritus, kept as an archive. Check current activity with monitoring agencies.

Environmental news

• Environment News Service: Environment news wire with sections on climate, energy, wildlife, oceans and land use.
• Environmental News Network: Environmental news site that mixes original stories with posted press releases. Check which one you are reading.

Advocacy groups

These groups take positions on climate, land and pollution. Quote them as interested parties and check their numbers against agency data.

• Natural Resources Defense Council (Advocacy): Environmental group that uses science, policy and law on climate, public health and nature.
• League of Conservation Voters (Advocacy): Environmental political group. Its congressional scorecard rates lawmakers' votes on its priority issues.
• National Audubon Society (Advocacy): Bird conservation group with a magazine and positions on water, land and climate.
• Ceres (Advocacy): Nonprofit that presses companies and investors on environmental and climate practices.

For environment reporters

• Society of Environmental Journalists: Annual conferences, reporting awards and publications for journalists who cover the environment.
• Lehigh University Journalism and Communication: Journalism department that offers science and environmental writing minors.
• WWW Virtual Library: Earth Science: Directory of earth science websites by subject. Check that each linked site is current.
• OneLook dictionary index: Index of online dictionaries and glossaries. Filter to Science for technical terms.

Reporting checks for this beat

• Which agency or monitor produced the reading, and is the data final or preliminary?
• Does the weather record come from a station with a consistent history, and what period does it cover?
• Are you describing one event or a trend? If you link it to climate change, what evidence supports that?
• Did the permit, violation or emissions figure come from the regulator's own database, and when was it updated?
• Are disaster casualty and damage figures official counts or estimates, and who produced them?
• If an advocacy group or company supplied the number, can you trace it to a primary source?

Links were checked in September 2026 for a live page from the same organization. Advocacy groups, trade groups and party sites are labeled and should be treated as interested parties. Verify ownership, date and context before publication.