Long before 420 was a thing, 4/22 was the greenest date on the April calendar. That earlier tradition began on April 22, 1970, and according to its founder, Wisconsin senator and environmental activist Gaylord Nelson, “I was not quite prepared for the overwhelming response that occurred on that day. Two thousand colleges and universities, ten thousand high schools and grade schools, and several thousand communities in all, more than twenty million Americans participated in one of the most exciting and significant grassroots efforts in the history of this country.”
Half a century later, Earth Day continues to inspire activism. But to be an effective advocate, one needs to stay updated on new research into the forces imperiling our planet. At California Local, we survey countless local and statewide news stories every day, and we’ve come to appreciate the work of many environmental reporters who bring clarity to complicated issues. There are many more than we have space to cover here, but here’s a short list that offers a place to start on building your own list of must-follow reporters.
Several of the counties in which California Local operates have daily newspapers owned by Digital First Media, a subsidiary of the often maligned hedge fund Alden Global Capital. While much excellent reporting has been done that tracks the decline of daily newspapers in the era of hedge fund ownership, readers of the papers in the Bay Area News Group—the Mercury News, East Bay Times and Marin Independent Journal—can find some excellent reporting by writers Lisa M. Krieger and Paul Rogers. Their stories, which often cover environmental issues of statewide importance, also appear in Alden-owned Santa Cruz Sentinel and Monterey Herald. (Follow them on Twitter: @lisamkrieger and PaulRogersSJMN.)
Nonprofit news organization CalMatters covers all things California, and that includes many environmental issues. Longtime Los Angeles Times staffer Julie Cart joined CalMatters in 2016 as an environmental reporter, reporting on climate change among other matters. Alastair Bland is also on the CalMatters team; based in Sonoma County, he has written about water, climate, marine research, agriculture and the environment for many news outlets, including NPR, the East Bay Express and Slate. (Follow them on Twitter: @julie_cart and @allybland.)
In addition to these regional reporters, there are many journalists working statewide and nationally who stay on top of issues that should matter to all Californians. As the paper of record in the state’s largest metropolis, the Los Angeles Times fields a robust team of environmental reporters: Alex Wigglesworth covers the wildfire beat; Ian James and Dorany Pineda follow the ebb and flow of California’s ongoing water crises, and Rosanna Xia keeps tabs on coastal issues.
Dailies aren’t the only outlets for environmental news, of course. We appreciate the work of Sue Dremann, who has worked for the Palo Alto Weekly since 2001 (noteworthy this month is a piece headlined “Inside one man’s hunt to recover lost species,” which tracks evidence that the San Francisco Peninsula could once again be a haven for such species as beavers, Chinook salmon and tule elk). And finally, right in California Local’s own backyard (we’re headquartered in Santa Cruz), is Erin Malsbury, whose environmental reporting and science writing is published by Good Times, a member of the California Local Media Alliance, and a leading media voice in Santa Cruz County since 1975. Find Malsbury’s work here at GoodTimes.sc and follow her on Twitter.