The Latest by Jessica A. Knoblauch

Senior Staff Writer

Jessica is a former award-winning journalist. She enjoys wild places and dispensing justice, so she considers her job here to be a pretty amazing fit.

A dark orange haze over the New York skyline
September 28, 2023

How We Can Preserve Breathable Air in a World on Fire

Increasing wildfires fueled by climate change unleash a toxic cocktail. Here’s how we can lessen their health impacts by strengthening clean air protections year-round and nationwide.

Canoeing the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Northern Minnesota.
September 7, 2023

We Just Protected a Pristine Midwest Wilderness from Mining

Dangerous mining plans threatened to ruin a pristine wilderness and a town’s thriving economy. Until we stepped in.

Puget Sound orcas live in three pods named J, K, and L. Members of L pod, Admiralty Inlet, Oct. 10, 2009.
June 29, 2023

Puget Sound Orcas are Dying — Latest Sign of Nature’s Decline

The world’s top scientists warn that biodiversity is in a free fall. Puget Sound’s endangered resident orcas are just the latest victims of short-sighted human actions that are causing an ecological crisis.

Three large container ships next to each other, stacked with containers.
May 24, 2023

How a Bay Area Community is Fighting Port Pollution

The Port of Oakland wants to widen its basins, bringing more megaships — and more pollution — to an already overburdened community.

Young people on the street holding signs that say "Portland Demands Climate Action" and NW "Natural" Nothing Natural about it.
April 20, 2023

How We Stopped a Gas Utility’s Scheme to Propagandize Children

A gas utility in Oregon tried to charge customers for its lobbying in schools — part of the gas industry’s longstanding efforts to push for increasing fossil fuel use nationwide. Then we stepped in.

An offshore wind farm like this one in Rhode Island will soon help power New York City, replacing the need for new fossil fuel projects.
March 31, 2023

How We Helped an NYC Community Say No to a Dirty Gas Plant and Get Wind Power Instead

A clean energy win in Queens shows what’s possible when fossil fuels are swept off the table.

Adrian Martinez, photographed in Los Angeles, California.
March 31, 2023

Meet the Environmental Attorney Who Wants to Electrify Everything on Wheels

Adrian Martinez says incremental steps to tackle air pollution and climate change aren’t enough.

Two men install a solar panel system on the roof of a home. Solar energy is one way we can transition to a 100% clean energy economy.
March 23, 2023

Creating a Sustainable Clean Energy Transition

Transitioning to 100% clean energy is a huge opportunity to power our economy and create good jobs without sacrificing our communities or the climate. Here’s how we do it.

Monaeka Flores, photographed on Inapsan Beach on Guam, where her family had ranched the land for generations.
January 11, 2023

Indigenous Islanders in Guam Take on the Military

Activist Monaeka Flores talks about fighting to stop the Air Force from blowing up leftover munitions on Guam’s beaches.

A photograph of a drilling site in the Western Arctic. The now paused Peregrine oil drilling project would have been in this region, releasing a carbon bomb.
December 15, 2022

Oil Project in Arctic Put on Pause, But Other Fights Remain

The oil drilling project Peregrine is on pause, but another carbon bomb — the Willow Project — could get the go-ahead.