Environmental Reporting at WNIJ
The Mississippi River Basin spans nearly half of the continental United States. Millions of residents rely on the river system for drinking water, commerce and recreation.
More than 90% of America’s agricultural exports are grown in the Mississippi River Basin, including more than three-quarters of the world’s exports in feed grains, and most of the country’s livestock. More than 70% of nitrate pollution in the Mississippi River comes from agriculture, which harms human health and aquatic life and contributes to the “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico. As the impacts of climate change become more severe, residents can expect more extreme weather, including flooding.
By making resources available on this beat, we support more complete coverage of these critical topics. As our reporters build deeper knowledge, they tap into a network of newsrooms, experts, and support that will help them tell more equitable, impactful and interconnected stories.
Harvest Public Media reports on food systems, agriculture and rural issues through a collaborative network of reporters and partner stations throughout the Midwest and Plains. Our goal is to provide in-depth and unbiased reporting on complex issues for a broad, diverse audience, often connecting the Heartland to the rest of the country. Primary topics include, but are not limited to, agribusiness, biofuels, climate change, farming and ranching, food safety, rural life and public policy.
Below you will find reporting from reporters across our collaborations.
Locally, Jess Savage reports on clean air, water, and agricultural systems in northern Illinois for WNIJ, part of the Mississippi River Basin Project and Harvest Public Media. They recently graduated from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Jess was awarded the Pulitzer Center Campus Consortium Fellowship, where they reported on landscape-scale ecological restoration in England and its effects on local farmers. They studied ecology at the University of Vermont as an undergraduate.
Jess focuses on access and policy related to clean air, water and agricultural systems for northern Illinois residents. This includes storytelling that gives voice traditionally underserved communities and the impact of climate change on local communities. The beat is a solutions driven approach to reporting related to efforts to improve the quality of rivers and groundwater, policies and processes in agricultural practices and food systems, and overall access to healthy living.
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With high prices at the grocery store, legislators across the middle of the country have moved away from sales taxes on food purchases. -
People are flocking to backyard chickens this year, in part due to the sky-high cost of eggs at the grocery store. Some first-timers have turned to chicken rentals to try out ownership for a few months. -
All six U.S. regional climate centers will remain online through a new contract deadline in mid-June. Four of the centers, which are overseen by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, were abruptly closed last week after their funding ran out. -
South Dakota regulators say Summit Carbon Solutions will need to reapply for a permit application to build a carbon dioxide pipeline. The decision is another setback for the multi-state project. -
The spring planting season is getting started for many Midwest farmers. Federal data suggests that fewer acres will be planted in soybeans than last year, in part because of the U.S. trade war with China. -
The U.S. trade war with China is coming at a tough time for American farmers, who are already dealing with lower crop prices and higher costs for farm necessities. Tariffs are likely to push crop prices further down, while increasing the costs for fertilizer and farm equipment. -
The closure of four of the six Regional Climate Centers across the U.S. occurred after funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ran out. A recent report stated that the Trump administration plans to propose a 25% cut to NOAA's budget next fiscal year. -
En el noreste de Iowa, un grupo de árboles ralos parece fuera de lugar. Está rodeado de campos de cultivo en el lado norte de una carretera de cuatro carriles, un oasis de naturaleza poco común en la zona rural de Iowa, donde cultivar cada pulgada de tierra es primordial. -
Experts say the drop in abundance is largely due to chemical use, habitat loss and a warming climate -
The Mississippi River is the nation’s most endangered river, a national conservation group says, because of federal plans to cut flood relief programs as severe weather threats grow.
