Electricity prices are rising just about everywhere. I looked at how much rates have changed this year and in the last five years at the state level, based on federal data. Missouri is feeling the most painful sting so far in 2025. insideclimatenews.org/news/2509202...

A pleasure to be part of "The Opponent's Sword and Defenders' Shield: Navigating the 2 Sides of Digital Technology for Climate Advocates" panel today at NYC climate week. The work of environmental defenders is one of the most important stories on the planet.

Best Lead award goes to @dangearino.bsky.social ! insideclimatenews.org/news/2309202...

A toxic mining spill devastated Zambian farmers’ livelihoods, releasing millions of gallons of waste into the environment. The Chinese company responsible told shareholders the spill did not have “a significant impact.”

A new lawsuit alleges a mining firm has threatened poor farmers impacted by a toxic waste spill, with the firm warning locals that their phones are being tapped and the company is using drones to monitor them. insideclimatenews.org/news/2209202...

New: Pregnant women who lived closest to the #AlisoCanyon disaster during their final trimester were twice as likely to have low birth weight babies, a risk factor for childhood and adult disease, new research found. #Naturalgas is loaded with toxic chemicals insideclimatenews.org/news/2009202...

My colleague @vernalcoleman.bsky.social is a diligent, careful reporter (and a great human!). He's been doing an excellent job holding the Department of Veterans Affairs to account. Do you have a tip to share? Reach out to him directly: [email protected] or on Signal at vcoleman91.99

Since 2012, at least 2,253 environmental defenders have been murdered or disappeared. Far more have been abducted, threatened, harassed and assaulted.

Chinese miners are illegally plundering gold from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, causing vast environmental destruction and endangering human health, a new report says.

Delighted to be on this panel at Climate Week. Join us on September 25 at 2PM ET to talk about how environmental defenders, journalists and others can stay safe in an era of rising threats. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

One of the most important stories I write every year is on the annual death count of environmental defenders. They are people who peacefully try to protect the environment and their homelands from pollution, degradation and destruction. 🧵 insideclimatenews.org/news/1609202...

A new report says illegal, semi-industrial gold mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is wreaking havoc on Congolese people and the environment. insideclimatenews.org/news/1709202...

Three environmental defenders were murdered or disappeared, on average, each week in 2024, a new report says. insideclimatenews.org/news/1609202...

Thank you to @thexylom.com for publishing this story. Earlier this year, I visited Africa's Copperbelt to report on what might be the year's worst environmental disaster. The story from that trip follows Jingjing Zhang, a lawyer holding Chinese companies accountable for such catastrophes

Deforestation is a serious threat to human health. Indigenous territories act as a bulwark against it, protecting millions from health risks, a new peer-reviewed study says. insideclimatenews.org/news/1109202...

Monsoon floods that have killed more than 950 people and evacuated millions in Pakistan this summer were intensified by climate change. The climate crisis is here and now, more @insideclimatenews.org insideclimatenews.org/news/1209202...

Deforestation is a serious threat to human health. Indigenous territories act as a bulwark against it, protecting millions from health risks, a new peer-reviewed study says. insideclimatenews.org/news/1109202...

Shrimp harvests in southwest Louisiana, once the seafood capital of America, were down 50 percent in 2024. Local fishermen say a new LNG export terminal is to blame. insideclimatenews.org/news/0709202... My latest, for @insideclimatenews.org

A Chinese mining company spilled toxic waste into impoverished Zambian villages. Then it used a government-ordered compensation program to get people to waive their rights to sue.

A Chinese company spilled toxic mining waste into Zambian villages and rivers. When the company's consultant warned that the spill was 3 times worse than previously disclosed and could cause serious illness for locals, the mining firm fired the consultant. insideclimatenews.org/news/0409202...

A Chinese mining company spilled toxic waste into Zambian villages and rivers, potentially costing billions to clean and restore The firm got impoverished and often illiterate villagers to sign away their right to sue in exchange for government-ordered payments insideclimatenews.org/news/0409202...

This week, Peruvian officials are set to consider the creation of a sprawling reserve in the country’s Amazon basin to protect groups of Indigenous people living in isolation from the rest of society. Important story from @nkus.bsky.social insideclimatenews.org/news/0309202...

More than 85 climate scientists call the US Department of Energy’s new climate report unfit for policymaking in a comprehensive review. DOE’s report cherry-picked evidence, lacked peer-reviewed studies and is “fundamentally incorrect,” the authors wrote. insideclimatenews.org/news/0209202...

‘Jingjing Zhang has fought polluting Chinese companies for decades. Now she’s teaching lawyers across the #GlobalSouth how to do the same. Her work has never been more urgent.’ - by @katiesurma.bsky.social for @insideclimatenews.org insideclimatenews.org/news/2408202... #Zambia #Copperbelt

Thanks to ‪@capitalandmain.bsky.social‬ for running our story on LA County's Chiquita Canyon Landfill. The landfill has released #cancer-causing gases and #climate super-pollutants for years, endangering residents who have long demanded state action, to no avail. capitalandmain.com/the-smolderi...

inspiring work from Chinese lawyer Jingjing Zhang holding polluting companies accountable: "Zhang has some advice she’s drawn from Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War.” “Understand who your opponent is and who your allies could be,” she said. “Form your strategies and identify your tactics.” "

Late to this: Here's @katiesurma.bsky.social on www.kalw.org taking about our @insideclimatenews.org story about the State Department's annual Human Rights Report. www.kalw.org/show/your-ca...

Trump has declared pollution and climate issues "woke," gutting the federal government of programs that address the problems. Turns out, drug cartels like Tren de Aragua are making millions off the gaps left by those funding cuts. Here's the story : insideclimatenews.org/news/2708202...

Earlier this year, I visited Africa's Copperbelt to report on what might be the year's worst environmental disaster. Here's the story from that trip, following Jingjing Zhang, who has made it her job to hold Chinese companies accountable for such catastrophes insideclimatenews.org/news/2408202...

A chemical industry insider is now in a senior role at the EPA. And he decides who pays big $$$ to clean up forever chemicals. This story says: he appears ready to shift cleanup costs away from polluters and onto taxpayers. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/c...

As an 11-year-old, I lived through #HurricaneKatrina in a trailer park a few miles from the coast. Here's a remembrance featuring my story and the story of David Dai, one of my closest friends. Just out from @insideclimatenews.org.

Pointing to “foundational flaws” in the Dept. of Energy’s recent climate report, the @ametsoc.org has responded by underlining scientific conclusions that have been thoroughly studied and consistently reaffirmed: www.ametsoc.org/ams/about-am... @coveringclimatenow.org

What does illegal gold mining in the Amazon have to do with America's opioid epidemic? Drug cartels like Tren de Aragua are making millions of dollars a day through illegal mining operations, bringing horrific damage to Earth's largest rainforest and the people living there. 🧵

A new report reveals illegal gold mining is a top money maker for drug organizations. The Trump administration has gutted programs to fight the crime.

This project, mapping lead-containing water service lines in Chicago and analyzing in relation to race and poverty, is a collaboration between @insideclimatenews.org, @grist.org and @wbez.org. Pleased to work on it and see it out in the world! insideclimatenews.org/news/2808202...

NEW: How Trump’s Anti-Environment Crusade Enriches Drug Traffickers The Trump administration promised to fight crime and the opioid epidemic. Why is he slashing programs that address environmental crimes, one of drug organizations’ top money makers? insideclimatenews.org/news/2708202...

My latest @insideclimatenews.org piece looks at a new tool from PSE Healthy Energy that maps the health risks of the #climate super-pollutant #methane. “Natural gas is not just methane. It's actually closer to a chemical soup,” said PSE's Seth Shonkoff /1 insideclimatenews.org/news/2608202...

Read this story, learn something new and incredibly important about methane. It's not just a greenhouse bomb. insideclimatenews.org/news/2608202...

Earlier this year, I went to Zambia's Copperbelt region to report on environmental damage caused by China's Belt and Road Initiative. A Chinese state-owned mining company's waste pit, known as a tailings dam, had spewed millions of gallons of acidic and toxic sludge into communities and rivers. 🧵

Terrific "Planet China" series @insideclimatenews.org...THIS from ‪@katiesurma.bsky.social‬ tracks a Chinese lawyer trying to hold Beijing accountable in developing countries. China’s Belt and Road Initiative keeps rolling and who's watching? ICN. insideclimatenews.org/news/2408202...

🎙️ Climate journalist Katie Surma on the real impacts of climate injustice, and the movement fighting back:

For years, China has promised to "green" its Belt and Road This year, a Chinese mine in Zambia spilled millions of gallons of toxic tailings waste into rivers This is the story of the lawyer trying to hold that company—and others—accountable. insideclimatenews.org/news/2408202...

The Chinese Dam Threatening the World’s Most Endangered Ape insideclimatenews.org/news/1708202...

Weekend read: US Guts Criticism of Indigenous Rights Abuses, Mentions of Climate Change From Annual Human Rights Reports. With @katiesurma.bsky.social insideclimatenews.org/news/1408202...

This week, my colleague @peteraldhous.com and I found the Trump administration gutted the U.S.'s annual human rights reports of sections addressing alleged abuses against Indigenous peoples. We also found no mentions of "climate change" in the reports insideclimatenews.org/news/1408202...

NEW from me with @katiesurma.bsky.social: US Guts Criticism of Indigenous Rights Abuses, Mentions of Climate Change From Annual Human Rights Reports insideclimatenews.org/news/1408202...

The State Department's human rights reports have erased sections highlighting abuses against Indigenous communities and removed all mentions of climate change. insideclimatenews.org/news/1408202...

Britain cancelled a coal mine over a flawed accounting of its potential climate impacts. Now, the mine’s investors are suing the country, the latest in a wave of corporate claims brought in the shadowy ISDS system. insideclimatenews.org/news/1108202...

A pleasure to talk with ICN exec editor Vernon Loeb about my reporting in Zimbabwe this past week (on wetlands and beyond) insideclimatenews.org/icn-sunday-m...

Researchers have shown that the Bogong moth uses constellations of stars to migrate hundreds of kilometers across Australia, making it the first known invertebrate to rely on a stellar compass for long-distance travel. 🌟 🌏🧪Read more: