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, Bear 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. Bear 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.
Bear 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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Biden-era changes to the Clean Air Act would have tightened regulations for industrial sites, but the Trump administration has given exemptions to hundreds of facilities. People living near the sites are concerned about air quality and their well-being. -
People have harvested wild foods for millennia, but learning how to do it today is harder, because fewer people have those skills. These groups are teaching people to eat "field to fork" again. -
Across the central U.S., more communities are passing ordinances to regulate renewable infrastructure development. A University of Missouri study examines the economic impact of renewable energy in rural areas. -
More farmers are showing interest in sorghum, a drought-tolerant grain. The crop is poised to expand in the U.S. – especially if Americans start consuming it. -
Harvest season is nearing for many farmers. But the railroads that transport their harvested grain have raised their shipping costs with record-high diesel prices. That could mean lower grain prices for growers. -
Conflicts in Iran and Russia are causing diesel prices to spike globally. That’s especially hurting U.S. farmers as they head into harvest season, the most fuel intensive period of the agricultural year. -
Federal scientists are still scrambling to find new jobs or relocate across the country as Maryland’s Beltsville Agricultural Research Center’s last days of operation approach. Even as their personal lives upend, employees are concerned that BARC’s legacy of impactful research will be left behind. -
Beginning in December, new federal restrictions will make many hemp products illegal. Businesses in the industry are getting ready to close down most or all of their operations, while advocates hope there's still time to change course before the ban begins. -
More than 5 million people are no longer getting food aid in the wake of a slew of cuts and changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. As changes to the program continue to unfold, rural Americans face unique problems. -
Warmer-than-normal-temperatures in the Pacific Ocean are driving what could be the strongest El Niño on record. Here’s how that’s likely to impact weather across the central U.S this year.
