Congratulations to our 2025 SEAL Environmental Journalism Awards winners! Each honoree brings accountability to power, empathy to data, and urgency to the conversation on environmental policy. Read more about this year's winners: sealawards.com/twelve-journ...

Lawmakers Press #EPA for $3B in Stalled Lead Pipe Replacement Funds @juanpab.bsky.social reports for a partnership of @insideclimatenews.org @grist.org and @wbez.org insideclimatenews.org/news/1311202...

Keeping human-introduced carp out of the Great Lakes Today's SciFri podcast: "Can A Billion-Dollar Barricade Keep Carp Out Of The Great Lakes?" with Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco (@juanpab.bsky.social), WBEZ environment reporter, and Dr. Cory Suski, U of Illinois. www.sciencefriday.com/segments/inv...

Shortly after Trump took office, DHS wiped from its website a policy regulating facial recognition use. Face rec tools — like Clearview AI, which Illinois cops are barred from using, and Mobile Fortify — are now being used to support Trump’s deportation campaign. www.wbez.org/immigration/...

David Koschman’s long-grieving mother dies 21 years after her son was killed by Mayor Daley's nephew “She never got back to normal. She just wanted to be with David and [her late husband] Bob.” chicago.suntimes.com/koschman/202...

Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica are bracing for Hurricane Melissa. The storm is expected to quickly grow into a powerful category 3 or stronger hurricane. n.pr/4orMwfH

CHICAGO! I'll be downtown to talk about our food and our planet on Tuesday evening, at an event sponsored by @paulsoninstitute.bsky.social. I tried to be polite when the book came out, but these days I'm feeling spicier, please check it out! Info & RSVP here: partiful.com/e/HYP2nDeX6Q...

Another step forward for the Brandon Road Interbasin Project. We’ll continue our work protecting the Great Lakes and easing the burden on Illinoisans.

Chicago people! I’ll be talking about the earth, particularly the eating of it, on October 28 at the Merchandise Mart. Register here, Chicago takes food seriously right? partiful.com/e/HYP2nDeX6Q...

Corals are disappearing, pushing Earth to its first major ‘tipping point’ A new report says Earth has reached a dire milestone with the widespread death of warm-water coral reefs. But it's not too late to save what remains. grist.org/oceans/coral... #Coral #Ocean #Climate #Science #GreenSky

#BREAKING The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals PARTIALLY grants the stay sought by the Trump Administration. The stay is GRANTED as to federalization of the National Guard. But it is DENIED as to deployment. So deployment still BLOCKED, but troops "do not need to return to their home states."

ICE regularly held immigrants far beyond the hours they set for the Broadview processing center, data through July shows. Immigrants held there say there are no beds, limited food and toilets are out in the open with no soap or toothpaste. trib.al/um8BERF

BREAKING: Gov. JB Pritzker said the IL National Guard obtained a DHS memo stating it was seeking the deployment of 100 military troops to Illinois “claiming a need for the protection of ICE personnel and facilities.” From @tinasfon.bsky.social

Chicago Has Thousands of Lead Pipes — and Millions of Unspent Dollars @keertigopal.bsky.social and @juanpab.bsky.social report for @insideclimatenews.org insideclimatenews.org/news/2209202...

Since 2023, the city has drawn between $70 million and $90 million of an approximately $325 million federal loan for lead service line replacements that expires next year via @keertigopal.bsky.social and @juanpab.bsky.social grist.org/economics/ch...

The neat thing about the ultra-viral Czech beaver dam story is that it’s just a particularly vivid example of what legions of unsung beavers do every day — help us solve our environmental problems without our gratitude or acknowledgment, and in spite of our attempts to kill them! Beavers gonna beav.

A cool new Q&A with @juanpab.bsky.social in @grist.org: "How Do We Feed Billions While Saving the Planet?" grist.org/food-and-agr...

Out today—a new interactive I worked on with @compatibilism.bsky.social mapping lead pipes in Chicago. You can use this tool to check any water service line in the city for lead, and explore how lead exposure overlaps with race and class. Check out the full piece: grist.org/accountabili...

Excellent service!

Chicago has most the lead pipes in the country. A team of excellent reporters and I mapped them all on a searchable tool. Huge s/o to @juanpab.bsky.social @keertigopal.bsky.social @peteraldhous.com and @compatibilism.bsky.social for this monumental effort. Relevant links threaded below!

Chicago has the most lead service lines of any city in the county. We mapped out which neighborhoods are hit hardest. Mega collab out today from me, @peteraldhous.com @juanpab.bsky.social @compatibilism.bsky.social + @amyqin.bsky.social insideclimatenews.org/news/2808202...

We got big project out today about Chicago’s lead pipes. The news is we mapped them all. The big idea is that Chicago residents are living through a public health crisis, and we wanted to help them visualize their place in it. @grist.org @wbez.org @insideclimatenews.org @chicago.suntimes.com

Grist is looking for an Upper Great Lakes reporter to cover climate impacts, environmental health, and solutions to the climate crisis, primarily for a local and regional audience. #journalismjobs Apply here: job-boards.greenhouse.io/grist/jobs/4...

I say this all the time, but it's local NPR affiliates that are nearly single-handedly covering disaster recoveries in the long term. If you can support yours, you should!

Eight months past a federal deadline, >90% of at-risk Chicagoans haven't been warned that their water may be contaminated with lead. 2nd story in our summer lead pipes series is out @insideclimatenews.org @grist.org @wbez.org, from me + @juanpab.bsky.social insideclimatenews.org/news/1407202...

Great @juanpab.bsky.social piece on my friend and former Star Tribune enviro reporter Josephine Marcotty's new book on the decimation of America's prairie.

There it is. The first ever Heat Advisory issued in Alaska. This is the first year it has been an option. @alaskawx.bsky.social

When it comes to ag policy, what's the difference between MAGA Iowa and Supermajority Democrat Illinois? *squints* Story by @juanpab.bsky.social & @fridagarza.bsky.social for @grist.org

Trump’s USDA tried to erase climate data. This lawsuit forced it back online. grist.org/food-and-agr...

Lost your federal job or funding? Tell us how cuts are impacting the environment, health, and safety of your community. Grist wants to hear how your work is being affected, and help tell the story of what's being lost. grist.org/climate/lost... #FederalJobs #Economy #USAID #Health #Climate

Someone just asked why we're buying apple juice from China when we have apple surpluses here sometimes. In addition to not having the processing infrastructure, if we were to try and replace the apple juice we import (~430 million gallons) we'd need to grow an additional 15 billion apples per year.

Wrote about how Trump’s return to White House has landed in EJ communities across the country for @grist.org grist.org/equity/thirt...

Schafer Park in South Chicago is absolutely drenched in dandelions. The pic can’t do it justice

The spectacular Glistening-Green Tanager at Doña Dora #Colombia #birds #nature 🌿

The Eastern Shoshone this month voted to classify buffalo as wildlife instead of livestock. The vote indicates a growing interest to both restore buffalo on the landscape and challenge the relationship between animal and product. The latest from @siisiiko.bsky.social. grist.org/indigenous/w...

With environmental funding under scrutiny, it's unclear what the future holds for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative in Trump's second term. We caught up with @gristnews.bsky.social reporters @izzyjross.bsky.social and @juanpab.bsky.social to learn more about its future: youtu.be/jObmD4XQIfI

New for @gristnews.bsky.social Wrote about about a a new Chicago ordinance that could prevent polluting industries from continuing to pile on the city’s minority communities w/ @brettchase.bsky.social grist.org/cities/chica...

Colossal didn't make a dire wolf. This is not a dire wolf! Stop saying it is!! I feel like I'm going mad!!!

from me and @juanpab.bsky.social vv

It was a privilege to discuss the future of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative with three excellent reporters, including @juanpab.bsky.social, while previewing the new @greatlakesnow.bsky.social segment www.youtube.com/live/G9LHmcC...

Need

#hourly #wah https://api.tinyfox.dev/hourly/wahs/photo_158@01-06-2017_05-59-50.jpg

Perfection

NEW for @gristnews.bsky.social As tensions between the US and Canada escalate, advocates are worried about what happens to the Great Lakes next. @izzyjross.bsky.social and I got into it! grist.org/politics/us-...

Worked with @juanpab.bsky.social @izzyjross.bsky.social @stopitkatie.bsky.social (with a clutch assist from @rahulbali.bsky.social) on this story about grants to help farmers and small businesses save on energy...except now the money is frozen grist.org/food-and-agr...

“It’s catastrophic,” one environmental advocate said of recent US Forest Service cuts. “We are losing an entire generation of talent and passion.” By @stopitkatie.bsky.social, @juanpab.bsky.social, and @izzyjross.bsky.social for Grist…

My Chicago exceptionalism streak will continue unabated (especially if we meet the 2035 goal before other cities) @juanpab.bsky.social @gristnews.bsky.social grist.org/cities/chica...