Health

Spring Is Coming. How Silent Will It Be?

Bird populations remain in steep decline, mostly due to human activity. But as the latest TipSheet reports, reporting on the disappearance of our avian residents can lead journalists to some bread-and-butter environmental stories: whether about local ecosystems, climate change, chemicals, land disturbance and more. Read on for more, including nearly a dozen-and-a-half story ideas and reporting resources.

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"EPA to Stop Considering Lives Saved When Setting Rules on Air Pollution"

"In a reversal, the agency plans to calculate only the cost to industry when setting pollution limits, and not the monetary value of saving human lives, documents show."

Source: NYTimes, 01/13/2026

Between the Lines — Writing Nature Through Illness and Disability

Writers with disabilities and chronic illnesses explore perspectives on nature and environment in a unique anthology, “Moving Mountains.” Editor Louise Kenward discusses the recent volume with contributor William Allen in a new BookShelf “Between the Lines” Q&A — the connection between climate change and disability, the benefits of learning to rest, the value of engaging with different perspectives and more. 

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"New Dietary Guidance Pushes Whole Milk, Warns Against Processed Food"

"The Trump administration released new dietary guidelines Wednesday that call for Americans to limit highly processed foods, such as those high in added sugars and sodium, and that endorse products that had once been discouraged by many nutritionists, such as whole milk, butter and red meat."

Source: Washington Post, 01/08/2026

"U.S. Overhauls Childhood Vaccine Schedule, Recommends Fewer Shots"

"The Trump administration is overhauling the list of routine shots recommended for all babies and children in the United States, bypassing the government’s typical process for recommending vaccines and delivering on Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s long-standing goals to upend the nation’s pediatric vaccine schedule."

Source: Washington Post, 01/06/2026

"American Academy of Pediatrics Loses HHS Funding After Criticizing RFK Jr."

"The Department of Health and Human Services has terminated seven grants totaling millions of dollars to the American Academy of Pediatrics, including for initiatives on reducing sudden infant deaths, improving adolescent health, preventing fetal alcohol syndrome and identifying autism early, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post."

Source: Washington Post, 12/18/2025

A Town Derailed, a Trust Obtained

The devastating 2023 East Palestine, Ohio, toxic train derailment left a legacy of illness and a town torn by competing understandings of the contamination’s aftereffects. A yearlong reporting initiative with photojournalist Rebecca Kiger and Time magazine writer Alejandro de la Garza worked to gain the community’s confidence and tell its story. Their prize-winning feature, in the latest Inside Story Q&A.

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"Hundreds Quarantined As South Carolina Measles Outbreak Accelerates"

"South Carolina’s measles outbreak is “accelerating” in the wake of Thanksgiving travel and a lack of vaccinations, an epidemiologist for the state’s Department of Public Health (DPH) warned Wednesday, after authorities traced a sizable outbreak to a church in the state’s northwest."

Source: Washington Post, 12/15/2025

"Under RFK Jr., The CDC Provides A Megaphone To The Anti-Vaccine Movement"

"For decades, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has fought attempts by the anti-vaccine movement to sow doubts in the safety and efficacy of the shots that marked a triumph of public health. This week, the agency instead provided a powerful platform for the cause."

Source: Washington Post, 12/09/2025

Top Environment and Energy Topics To Watch in 2026

Explore our 10th annual Journalists’ Guide to Environment + Energy, as we scour the beat to identify 15 top stories to put on your radar for 2026. Our updated format for the special report provides a quick read and a broad scope — with insights on climate change and environmental justice, bird and insect declines, data centers and deep sea mining, deregulation and PFAS and much more. Get started here.

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