**Some personal news** After 5 years at @nj.com/ @starledger.bsky.social — including 4 years covering the environment — I will be leaving the newsroom. I’ve loved my time here, which began as part of a fellowship wt Syracuse University. I’m beyond proud of the work I’ve produced in my home state!

new investigation for @starledger.bsky.social, I spoke with several families at the Jersey bayshore over fears contamination is linked to cancer diagnoses. So far: 41 cancer cases. Most are near a town’s old, improperly-capped and heavily-cited dump. h/t @karinpricemueller.bsky.social

I have a feature story in the March 2026 issue of Texas Highways magazine on the night-blooming cereus, or “queen of the night,” a highly threatened cactus that blooms only one night a year. Click the link and check out the timelapse I did, too.too. texashighways.com/outdoors/the...

new from Gov. @mikiesherrill.bsky.social’s budget for @starledger.bsky.social, the $60.7 billion plan includes over $1B in subsidies for NJ Transit. About $140M was re-directed from fund meant to build clean energy. @alexfromnj.bsky.social: #NewJersey is “hampering” its ability to lower costs 1/3

This is the most bizarre interaction I've ever had with an HHS spokesperson. From my story on CDC's pivot to "shared-decision making" for vaccines, with insight from @jennifernuzzo.bsky.social and @jakescottmd.bsky.social: www.wired.com/story/why-rf...

scoop for @starledger.bsky.social, 2 major groups that rep businesses and builders in #NewJersey — NJ Business & Industry Association and NJ Builders Association — are legally challenging new rule over how people can build at Jersey Shore amid sea level rise projections www.nj.com/ocean/2026/0...

Now you see it, now you don't. Near the end of this extremely warm winter, California's snow is rapidly melting. My colleague @castleman.bsky.social shares some striking satellite images. He spoke with @weatherwest.bsky.social about the remarkably rapid loss of snow: www.latimes.com/california/s...

new for @starledger.bsky.social, I wrote 2,000 words about #NewJersey’s new rule which will require homes built in flood-risk areas to be 4 feet above the standard set by FEMA. #JerseyShore builders and realtors are worried, environmentalists are happy but cautious. www.nj.com/ocean/2026/0...

“I might have written 18 books over the past four decades, but it’s really all just one book on fairness, justice and equity,” @drrobertbullard.bsky.social, the father of environmental justice. His nature.com interview ends the Changemakers Q&A series, started by @kendallsciwrite.bsky.social.

new enterprise for @starledger.bsky.social, I embedded for 48 hrs with a #NewJersey rescue unit 17 days after losing a firefighter to the icy waters of Delaware River. We hunkered down as a blizzard the state had not seen in 30 years beared down. Photos: Dave Hernandez www.nj.com/camden/2026/...

Some context on the recent D.C. Water pipe break, which led to an estimated 243 million gallons of sewage going into the Potomac River. I'm told 600 million gallons of sewage and runoff flow into the Potomac every year, largely when heavy storms overwhelm D.C.'s aging sewers.

mini-exclusive for @starledger.bsky.social, families in 13 towns will not get home elevations like initially thought bc #NewJersey says FEMA would consider too costly. “They’re having another program pulled out from under them,” said Amanda Devecka-Rinear of the New Jersey Organizing Project.

As a historian of science, I was raised to think rejecting science was a pathology of anti-democratic governments. Well, this might be the proof of that. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/c...

breaking for @starledger.bsky.social, the death toll from the extreme cold weather that has hammered #NewJersey for weeks has risen to 17, state officials told me.

The spreadsheet covers roughly 5 years (ending 3/2023) and includes disciplinary outcomes tied to alleged unauthorized database access, improper use or disclosure of information, and stalking or harassment. The records don’t include much context about the underlying misconduct

new for @starledger.bsky.social, I spoke with various meteorologists including @cupajoe.live, as well as well experts from ASU, Georgia Southern and TCNJ about the glut of amateur forecasters these days and the real dangers of #weather misinformation (especially during extreme weather periods!)

Climate reporters are some of the kindest, most selfless, and most hardworking people around. We need MORE of their work, not less. I'm grateful to everyone who has read and subscribed to support any kind of climate coverage over the years, ours or another newsroom's. Thanks for not turning away.

exclusive for @starledger.bsky.social that makes for a good snow day read. A small army of residents say their fervor for protecting the environment and after a probe by @nj.com, they saved a massive park reservation from becoming the home of a new 500-ft communication tower

Minnesota Public Radio is doing a great job. I donated yesterday! support.mpr.org/mpr-web

I was very glad to join @wnyc.org’s @thebrianlehrershow.bsky.social! spoke with David Furst about @mikiesherrill.bsky.social freezing #NewJersey’s soaring utility rates and what it all actually means) Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/0dvc...

“Go back to Florida, you motherf—er!’” It’s gotten, uh, testy at a series of Jersey Shore fishing holes. mini-enterprise for @starledger.bsky.social that speaks to the larger conversation about open space and who gets a right to it in an ever-developing #NewJersey. h/t Andy Mills

"On the wall next to it, a sign read: 'When you have more than you need, build a longer table, not a higher wall.'" @shannonheffernan.bsky.social and Julieta Martinelli for @themarshallproject.org/Latino USA/Futuro Investigates: www.themarshallproject.org/2025/12/05/i...

new for @starledger.bsky.social, I spoke with @newjerseypolitics.bsky.social , several nonprofits and gov’t officials about a heated proposal to build a gas pipeline under part of #NewJersey and New York. It comes after an election in which affordability and utility rates were dominant themes.

#COP30 >5000 "lobbyists mingling with world leaders & climate negotiators [..] worked for at least 859 fossil fuel organizations including trade groups, foundations & 180 oil, gas & coal companies involved in every part of the supply chain from exploration & production to distribution & equipment"

Good one from @stevenrodas.bsky.social here

mini-exclusive for @starledger.bsky.social, New Jersey is kicking a group of families from the historic Island Beach State Park fishing shacks. Leave or possibly face eviction after Friday, despite an initial lease agreement. With great photos from Andrew Mills www.nj.com/ocean/2025/1...

This is a really ambitious and cool forestry project and uh...not sure where they are going to find the funding for it now?

Here are the major ways federal/@realDonaldTrump environmental and energy policies and decisions have trickled down to #NewJersey since January (in no particular order)🧵1/

Here are the major ways federal/@realDonaldTrump environmental and energy policies and decisions have trickled down to #NewJersey since January (in no particular order)🧵1/

I hope you understand that if you show up at a hospital with an infection no one has ever seen before that the US had somewhere you could call. That place would answer, offer testing you can’t get anywhere else and come visit you to solve if necessary.

Special report for @starledger.bsky.social: Landfills! Ten of #NewJersey’s 12 major landfills want to expand or have already begun to enlarge. Together, they are set to grow by 89 million cubic yards, which equals more than 27,000 Olympic-size swimming pools worth of new garbage.

As housing costs soar, running water has become a luxury in Portland, Phoenix and other wealthy US cities. Latest for @bloomberg.com with Klara Auerbach, gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

new for @starledger.bsky.social, I spent several weeks with one Newark family, speaking about the intersection of violence and heavy emissions. In #NewJersey, people like Koabie Mincey have reckoned with crime for years. It can make asthma worse, new research shows.

Houston’s NWS office has lost its head meteorologist and has 11 vacancies. The shortages stem from federal cuts that slashed roughly 10% of NOAA’s staff. Here's what these vaccines mean for Texans as they brace for a busy hurricane season. @texastribune.org www.texastribune.org/2025/06/09/t...

mini-exclusive for @starledger.bsky.social, I spent a day at one of the largest sewage plants in #NewJersey and learned about how it’s preparing for something you wouldn’t necessarily think about each time you take a bathroom break: rising sea levels. Why a massive flood wall may be the answer.

Gardening is about love, and Ryan Krugman wrote a beautiful story about rooftop gardens in NY. Read and share! insideclimatenews.org/news/2406202...

new for @starledger.bsky.social, I obtained a @osha.gov citation showing a 49-year-old #NewJersey construction worker died in the blistering heat last summer. The latest extreme heat death has reinvigorated calls by @maketheroadnj.bsky.social and others for more worker protections.

When you went to the Iowa Writers Workshop but ended up in journalism

1/ We got government data showing that the Trump administration knew the majority of Venezuelan men it sent to a prison in El Salvador had no criminal record in the U.S. - and that only a handful had been convicted of violent crimes - before calling them all terrorists and deporting them.

new for @starledger.bsky.social, #NewJersey may soon not be able to require all new vehicle sales be fully electric cars starting in 2035. The EV rule was set up to start next year. #DonaldTrump can now squash N.J.’s plan to ban sales of new gas-powered cars

Great story from @sam-karlin.bsky.social about just how many rural communities in Louisiana are facing water systems on the verge of a breakdown. Water is brown, murky and lots of federal $$$ still has not been enough to fix it. www.nola.com/news/louisia...

breaking for @starledger.bsky.social, @newjerseyoag.bsky.social announced an up to $450M settlement with @3M — the “largest PFAS settlement in #NewJersey history” over contamination in Salem County. The Chemours Company owns site and before that, DuPont. Polluters have used NJ as “dumping ground.”

new for @starledger.bsky.social, I spoke with families and nonprofit advocates who are worried the development of a massive data center in South Brunswick Twp will come with a big environmental price tag for #NewJersey

Cumulatively, the turbines at xAI in S. Memphis can power 280,000 homes--and emit more smog-causing NOX than the actual gas power plant down the road or a nearby Valero refinery, according to calculations from @selc.bsky.social . That's "essentially running a power plant without a permit."

new for @starledger.bsky.social, health reporter Jackie Roman and I spent a couple of months speaking with former and current inmates about what they called unsafe and “dirty” water quality at #NewJersey prisons. Activists, including @cleanwaternj.bsky.social, are calling for an investigation

“The truth is that it’s toxic,” Pedro Ramos, who is from Guatemala, said in Spanish about his job clearing wildfire debris I followed workers who are cleaning up after the Los Angeles wildfires. 40 percent of this workforce are immigrants, many undocumented www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

new for @starledger.bsky.social, I spoke with Kevin Stewart and @seilback.bsky.social of the @lungusa.bsky.social about the 6 #NewJersey counties that do not monitor for air pollutants. Somerset, Sussex, Burlington, Cape May, Salem and — most surprising for me — Essex counties

This is AWFUL what the heck www.latimes.com/california/s...

breaking for @starledger.bsky.social, I’m told staff are on “round-the-clock watch” at the former Oyster Creek nuclear power plant amid the growing 3,000+ acre wildfire in #NewJersey

new for @starledger.bsky.social, I obtained a 25-page investigation from the Camden fire marshal which says the cause of a recent major fire in #SouthJersey was not simply a lithium-ion battery as the company has repeated www.nj.com/camden/2025/...