Climate and Environment Stories
The Texas Flood, Climate Change, and the Fossil Fuel Coverup
Climate Change
Rescue workers were still searching for bodies buried in twisted piles of brush and tree trunks along the Guadalupe River…
Protecting Trump’s Anti-Environmental Agenda
Climate Change
How EPA Chief Zeldin Became a Cheerleader for “Drill Baby Drill”? MARCH 7, 2025 BY WFKISTNER Last year, Lee Zeldin…
Inside Story: The Battle to Protect Congo’s Vast Peatlands
Environmental Justice
One of the world’s largest carbon sinks has long been protected by local communities in the Congo forests. But invading…
Are Dates the New Peace-Building Superfood?
Climate Change
MAY 28, 2023 BY ROCKY KISTNER Experts say there are financial speedbumps ahead for Israeli food tech and environmental startups…
In Louisiana’s Barataria Bay, a Coastal Restoration Plan Will Fuel a Rise in Painful Dolphin Deaths. Is This the Price of Climate Change?
Climate Change
This week, after years of study, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers green-lighted a massive Mississippi River diversion project, part…
Want to Fight Climate Change? Start by Protecting These Endangered Species
Climate Change
DECEMBER 7, 2020 BY ROCKY KISTNER Despite their massive size, African forest elephants remain an elusive species, poorly studied because…
Mississippi Beaches Have Been Vacant for 2 Months as a Toxic Algae Bloom Lurks Offshore
Climate Change
SEPTEMBER 8, 2019 BY ROCKY KISTNER Ship Island Excursions has survived hurricanes, global recessions, a world war, and a host…
There’s an Environmental Disaster Unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico
Climate Change
JULY 11, 2019 BY ROCKY KISTNER First came Hurricane Katrina, the 2005 monster storm that devastated her small fishing community…
Rescuing the Atchafalaya Swamp Now Threatened by Climate Change That Our Country Depends On
Climate Change
MAY 18, 2022 BY ROCKY KISTNER Louisiana’s Atchafalaya Basin, the nation’s largest cypress swamp, nurtures an abundant ecosystem and protects…
Dolphins in the Louisiana Bayou Keep Dying. A Reconstruction Plan Might Make It Worse.
Climate Change
JUNE 5, 2020 BY ROCKY KISTNER Barataria Bay is a marshy jewel in the heart of the vast Louisiana bayou.…
Beautiful Clean Coal” Is Not Only Destroying the Planet, but It Is Also Killing Miners
Environmental Justice
The number of coal miners has dropped precipitously, but they are still suffering from black lung disease at an alarming…
New Plaque Will Mark Notorious St. Louis Slave Prison Site Near Busch Stadium
Environmental Justice
A five-year effort to mark Missouri’s most notorious slave prison will come to fruition next month, when a bronze historical…
New Major Oil Spill Pollutes the Bayou
Environmental Justice
MAY 13, 2026 BY ROCKY KISTNER Louisiana officials worry there is more to come A little more than a month…
A Push to Mark the Buried History of ‘Harrowing’ Slave Prisons Near Busch Stadium
Environmental Justice
JUNE 23, 2024 BY ROCKY KISTNER Kistner Special to the Post-Dispatch This story was commissioned by the River City Journalism…
Washington, D.C. Transportation Policies Cut Pollution and Greenhouse Gases
Clean Energy
Washington, D.C. has some of the worst traffic in the country, and its air quality pays a price. D.C. officials…
Alaskan Communities Adapt to Dramatic Climate Change
Clean Energy
EROSION AND RELOCATION Alaska is facing some of the most imminent threats from climate change in the United States, with…
The Spike in a Flatlining U.S. EV Market
Clean Energy
Electric truck sales are surging despite Donald Trump’s oil industry-favored policies
On the Banks of the Mississippi River, Clean Energy Rises in the Heartland of St. Louis to Fight Climate Change
Clean Energy
On the Banks of the Mississippi, Clean Energy Rises in the Heartland
Climate Change Caucus Shows Youth That Green Jobs are Good Jobs
Clean Energy
FEBRUARY 27, 2014 BY ROCKY KISTNER As the Arctic melts, oceans acidify, storms intensify, and crops wither in drought-stricken areas…
Kansas Town Builds a Clean Energy Field of Dreams
Clean Energy
JULY 13, 2011 BY ROCKY KISTNER School superintendent Darin Headrick remembers the day the massive 200-mile-an-hour tornado struck his small…
Feeding the Data Center Beast
Climate Change
Just outside the nation’s capital along Northern Virginia’s rapidly expanding Dulles business corridor are more than 300 low-slung concrete buildings…
Inside Story: The Forgotten Victims of Hidalgo
Environmental Justice
For decades, inhabitants of Hidalgo near Mexico City have been poisoned by toxic chemicals and sewage contaminating the waters flowing…
Oil Money is Polluting Research at LSU and UofL
Environmental Justice
LSU researchers received at least $44 million between 2010 and 2020 from ExxonMobil, Shell and other oil and petrochemical companies…Our health and our future is at stake
Rocky's Blog
This blog will be an environmental clearinghouse of stories and commentaries that I will expand on, focusing on climate change,…
Inside Story: Behind the Crime Rings Trafficking Sand
Environmental Justice
An investigation by journalist David Taylor and illustrator Mark Smith for Scientific American takes readers deep inside the criminal world…