Our Stories

The Latest by Jessica A. Knoblauch

Senior Staff Writer

The 2010 explosion and fire at the 'Pick Your Part' junkyard in Wilmington, CA took more than 30 hours to extinguish, releasing particulate matter, dioxins and heavy metals across neighboring communities.
October 21, 2014

Scrapping the Recycling Industry’s Green Image

By Jessica A. Knoblauch  /  California Office

Not all recycling is as green as it may seem.

Plastic found in the ocean.
July 10, 2014

Friday Finds: The Case of the Missing Plastic

By Jessica A. Knoblauch  /  California Office, Florida Office & Mid-Pacific Office

Researchers have found that 99 percent of the plastic that should be in the ocean is missing.

The Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument is home to some of the most vibrant, healthy coral reefs in the world, such as Kingman Reef.
June 18, 2014

Friday Finds: Obama Combats Climate Change by Land, Air and Sea

By Jessica A. Knoblauch  /  International Program & Mid-Pacific Office

Obama proposes a vast expansion of a Pacific Ocean marine sanctuary.

Satellite image of a hurricane.
June 6, 2014

Friday Finds: Girly-Named Hurricanes Less Feared

By Jessica A. Knoblauch  /  Headquarters Office

People don’t take female-named hurricanes as seriously—and suffer the consequences.

May 20, 2014

New Name, Same Game

By Jessica A. Knoblauch  /  Washington, D.C. Office

The men behind the poisoning of West Virginia’s drinking water begin anew.

Residents rally outside Berkeley City Hall to show opposition to a proposed crude by rail project.
March 28, 2014

Explosive Crude-By-Rail Rolls Into Main Street America

By Jessica A. Knoblauch  /  California Office, Northeast Office, Northwest Office & Washington, D.C. Office

Concerned communities are fighting back.

The largest environmental protest in Baltimore, MD, called on political leaders to stop Dominion Power's Cove Point liquefied natural gas export terminal on the Chesapeake Bay.
March 13, 2014

Coast-to-Coast Opposition to Exporting Dirty Energy

By Jessica A. Knoblauch  /  Northeast Office & Northwest Office

Communities nationwide are rejecting fossil fuel export facilities.

January 31, 2014

Friday Finds: Drought Leaves CA Glass Half Empty

By Jessica A. Knoblauch  /  California Office & Northwest Office

Climate change threatens grapes, salmon and other dining favorites

September 18, 2013

Friday Finds: Pushing Clean Air’s Buttons

By Jessica A. Knoblauch  /  Washington, D.C. Office

Tired of breathing dirty air during your daily commute? Just turn on your car vent’s recirculation button, ‘advises researchers from the University of Southern California.

September 6, 2013

Friday Finds: Sea Otters Keep Seas Squeaky Clean

By Jessica A. Knoblauch  /  California Office

Sea otters regularly draw crowds at aquariums and along shorelines for their famously cute mustaches and furry bodies, but recent research shows that these little starlets should really be applauded for their ability to keep algae from mucking up our oceans. According to researcher Brent Hughes from the University of California, Santa Cruz, sea otters’ …