journalism

Our top 5 long reads of 2021

Check out must-read, in-depth reporting from the past year.

In a world of quick clips and soundbites, long-form journalism can be a tough sell. But some stories just deserve the space and attention.


Here are five long reads that rise to that level. Grab a coffee or tea, close your Twitter tab, and support the kind of reporting that can spark change.

1. Fractured: The body burden of living near fracking

fracking children health

In this 4-part investigative series, EHN finds western Pennsylvania families near fracking are exposed to harmful chemicals, and regulations fail to protect communities' mental, physical, and social health.

2. Why Indigenous women are risking arrest to fight Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline through Minnesota

enbridge line 3 indigenous

Enbridge's Line 3 pipeline construction is running into tribal resistance over fears of water pollution, wild rice impacts, climate change, and exploitation of Native women.

3. We’re dumping loads of retardant chemicals to fight wildfires. What does it mean for wildlife?

wildfires climate change

As western wildfires become bigger and more intense, state and federal fire agencies are using more and more aerial fire retardant, prompting concerns over fish kills, aquatic life, and water quality.

4. Pollution’s mental toll: How air, water and climate pollution shape our mental health

environmental justice

A collaboration between Environmental Health News and The Allegheny Front found alarming evidence that residents throughout the western Pennsylvania region are likely suffering changes to their brains due to pollution in the surrounding environment.

republican climate change denial
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. (Credit: Gage Skidmore)

Opinion: House Speaker Mike Johnson’s climate change playbook — deny the science, take the funding

The two-faced charade of climate denial while diving into the pot of federal renewable incentives and tax breaks.

It took no time for Mike Johnson to establish a hefty carbon footprint as new Speaker of the House.

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Senator Whitehouse & climate change

Senator Whitehouse puts climate change on budget committee’s agenda

For more than a decade, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse gave daily warnings about the mounting threat of climate change. Now he has a powerful new perch.

Gore blasts COP28 climate chief and oil companies' emissions pledges at UN summit

Former Vice President Al Gore says don’t trust the oil and gas industry to report their actual carbon pollution and he adds that the man running United Nations climate talks runs one of the dirtiest oil companies out there.
Air-conditioning use surging
Photo by Chromatograph on Unsplash

Air-conditioning use will surge in a warming world, U.N. warns

By 2050, electricity use for cooling could double, driving up the greenhouse gas emissions that cause warming.

Oil lobbyists swarm COP28 climate summit, seeking to tip outcome

More than 2,400 people with ties to the fossil fuel industry are registered to attend COP28, according to a review of U.N. data by an advocacy coalition.

Older voters are second only to young people in share of ’climate voters,’ new study shows

A report from the Environmental Voter Project says “gray is the new green," as voters who prioritize climate are numerous enough to swing elections in key states.
vinyl chloride production & contamination
FracTracker Alliance/FlickrPhoto citation: Ted Auch, FracTracker Alliance, 2023.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/

From fracked gas in Pennsylvania to toxic waste in Texas, tracking vinyl chloride production in the U.S.

Appalachia’s fracking boom is fueling the expansion of American plastics manufacturing, including production of vinyl chloride, the carcinogen used to make PVC that burned in East Palestine, Ohio.
coal mine
Pixabay

West Virginia's financial struggle with abandoned coal mine cleanup

West Virginia faces a severe financial burden due to its ineffective fund for cleaning up abandoned coal mines, potentially leaving taxpayers with massive costs.

Ken Ward Jr. reports for Mountain State Spotlight and ProPublica.

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From our Newsroom
childrens health climate change

Delays in joining the RGGI regional climate program means excess ER visits and child illness in Pennsylvania

Up to 128 premature deaths from air pollution could have been prevented if the state had entered the program in 2022 as planned.

environmental justice

LISTEN: Carlos Gould on wildfire smoke and our health

“Information matters a lot — trying to explain not just that there’s a problem, but how to do something about it.”

fracking PFAS

“Forever chemicals” in Pennsylvania fracking wells could impact health of surrounding communities: Report

More than 5,000 wells in the state were injected with 160 million pounds of undisclosed, “trade-secret” chemicals, which potentially include PFAS.

800,000 tons of radioactive waste from Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry has gone “missing”

800,000 tons of radioactive waste from Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry has gone “missing”

Poor recordkeeping on hazardous waste disposal points to potential for bigger problems, according to a new study.

drought climate farming

Opinion: Climate change and soil loss — the new Dust Bowl?

How we can save our soil, stabilize the climate, and prevent a new Dust Bowl.

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