Climate change coverage has been dominated by negative content that highlights the scale of the crisis, the stubbornness of fossil fuel use or the failure of international negotiations. But the past decade has brought meaningful wins: cities running on renewable energy for days at a time, flood-prone neighborhoods protected by restored wetlands, farmers slashing methane emissions while boosting yields.
The trouble is, many of these successes remain hidden in specialized reports or niche news outlets, and people often underestimate the progress made and how they can contribute to the rapid progress necessary to avoid increasing and intensifying catastrophic risks — a crucial climate reporting point that I have emphasized repeatedly.
People need to know what can be done in their communities. But how can you find those stories? You can find tons of leads with some savvy networking and online sleuthing. Here are some ideas to get you started.
Speak with local leaders about climate plans
- Meet with local municipality sustainability coordinators and state chapter leaders of the professional organizations listed in the third section below. Peruse city, town, and county climate action plans, climate resilience plans, or heat action plans.
- Contact the people who worked on these plans. They may have tips not only on the effects within city limits but also surrounding rural areas that tend to receive less coverage. Look for what is working in one local area that could be applied in another coverage area.
- Look for sections on local government websites related to development, planning, or energy projects. Contact your county or city’s planning or zoning department. They are typically responsible for managing land use and development permits. Inquire about any clean energy projects (like solar farms, wind turbines, or energy storage facilities) that are currently undergoing the permitting process.
Tap into health care institutions
- Large hospitals may have sustainability coordinators. Check for relevant resources from the American Hospital Association and the Sustainable Healthcare Association.
- Look up your state chapter of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health. Many chapters have online resources about current campaigns, virtual events and annual meetings.
Connect with professional groups and planning committees
- The Local Governments for Sustainability USA publishes best practices for municipalities, towns, and counties that are advancing sustainability and climate solutions. Find out what local governments serve as flagships, and which local public servants near you are involved. Talk to those public servants and find out what they want to see happen next. What blockers are they encountering to that progress?
- The International Society for Sustainability Professionals and the National Association of Environmental Professionals include professionals in local government within their memberships, as does the American Planning Association (APA). The APA’s Sustainable Planning Committee is a valuable resource on local government actions.
- Consult the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE) for state-specific information on incentives and policies related to clean energy projects.
Interview researchers and climate scientists
- Talk to local researchers who study the climate-health nexus — even if they don’t have any papers that seem relevant to your area. Scholars are generally concerned about their state and community and often make connections between their research topics and their homes that may not appear in the published literature.
- My best tips come from meeting with researchers to talk off the record.
- Finally, many states have climate scientists who serve as a sort of extension agent for climate issues.
Use geographical data
- Climate Central has a variety of tools to help journalists quantify climate effects in their coverage areas and find places that are experiencing outsized impacts of heat, flash floods, and many other repercussions of climate change.
- The Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool highlights census tracts with outsized climate, pollution, cost-of-living, and poverty burdens.
