champagne new year

On to 2021. And not a moment too soon.

Here's hoping the new year brings the climate change coverage we need.

Here in Georgia, 2021 begins on January 5, because we won't find out until then who our two U.S. Senators are.


Come to think of it, the U.S. won't know who controls our Senate until then. So America ends the detestable year 2020 by filing an incomplete. Not to mention the quadrennial one-day bonus for leap year.

Here are a few wishes that I'd like to see fulfilled in 2021. I'm not holding my breath. But maybe, just maybe the American media will fully recognize the climate crisis.

Al Roker, who reportedly earns $10 million and has won seven Daytime Emmy Awards for weather casts on NBC networks, to be cut loose to focus more on how climate change will haunt the entire 21st Century the way COVID-19 has for the past year (he does a good job when permitted to do so).

More network correspondents like ABC's Clayton Sandell who report regularly on climate politics and the links between climate change and extreme weather or wildfire events. We have breaking news as we come on the air: ABC laid Sandell off last month. Joyeux Noël, Clayton! And certainly not a good signal that climate change is a good topic to build a network career on.

I'd like to see more of CBS News's Scott Pelley, who did a thorough 60 Minutes segment this year, possibly even better than the one previous he did in 2006. Maybe it becomes a more regular feature.

More superb storytellers like CNN's Bill Weir, whose role as "Chief Climate Correspondent" wrongly suggests he's not the only climate correspondent (pretty much anywhere on US news nets, not just CNN).

And a slightly different wish, have you seen the API ads that flood the Sunday morning cable and broadcast talkshows about all their members doing to lower carbon emissions? That's not the Application Programming Interface(s) that help drive your social media. Rather it's the American Petroleum Institute. I'd love to know more about those ads, and similar ones from API members like ExxonMobil and Shell US. Like how much money do local and national broadcasters and websites make from airing falsehoods like these?

There are scores of journalists at dying newspapers who have been tossed on the layoff wagon because they're on a low priority beat that's often criticized as biased, incorrect, or both. Even if their beat -- climate and environment -- gets vindicated on a daily basis by both predictive science and on-the-ground fact.

Tragically, that beat looks smarter every year. Cheers.

Peter Dykstra is our weekend editor and columnist and can be reached at pdykstra@ehn.org or @pdykstra.

His views do not necessarily represent those of Environmental Health News, The Daily Climate or publisher, Environmental Health Sciences.

Banner photo credit: Al404/flickr

A man in a green hardhat looking at a solar panel

Trump shuns solar, but some prominent MAGA figures disagree

Several prominent conservatives say Republicans should embrace solar energy, despite President Donald Trump working to elevate fossil fuels over renewables.
A musk ox with brown fur walking in a rocky landscape

Canadian muskoxen hit by double punch of novel diseases and climate change

Emerging pathogens and a warming Arctic are driving steep declines in muskox populations across parts of northern Canada, raising concerns for ecosystems and Inuit food security.

A person with a sign saying 'You will die of old age; we will die of climate change'

The common ground of the climate and ‘ICE Out’ movements

Youth-led environmental groups are increasingly aligning with immigration rights activists, arguing that combating authoritarianism is essential to addressing the climate crisis.

A farm field with a tractor in the background

Climate experts say spring is coming earlier. How will that affect agriculture and ecosystems?

An earlier spring affects when migratory birds arrive, leaves emerge, and fruit ripens — among plants and animals that determine ecosystem health.

A flooded street with houses in the background

FEMA in the crosshairs as climate disasters worsen

Extreme weather events are growing more frequent and intense. Will FEMA be around to help affected communities?
Idle ships awaiting offloading or clearance to move

The energy crisis has only just begun

For 26 days, oil shipments out of the Persian Gulf have stopped. But ships that made it out before the war started have been at sea delivering energy products to markets that ordered them. The last of those ships should dock in the next week setting off a whole new crisis in global energy markets.
Google logo on the side of a building

Google to tap into gas plant for AI datacenter in sharp turn from climate goals

Texas power plant would emit 4.5m tons of carbon dioxide per year, more than that of the entire city of San Francisco.

From our Newsroom
Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

One facility has emitted cancer-causing chemicals into waterways at levels up to 520% higher than legal limits.

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

"The reality is, we are not exposed to one chemical at a time.”

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro speaks with the state flag and American flag behind him.

Two years into his term, has Gov. Shapiro kept his promises to regulate Pennsylvania’s fracking industry?

A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations

silhouette of people holding hands by a lake at sunset

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

wildfire retardants being sprayed by plane

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.