Steven Rodas
@stevenrodas.bsky.social
environmental reporter for NJ.com and @starledger.bsky.social. Based in Jersey City, NJ. Syracuse University alum.
https://www.nj.com/user/srodas/posts.html
https://www.nj.com/user/srodas/posts.html
Pinned
Steven Rodas
@stevenrodas.bsky.social
· Mar 13
Dammed if you do
This N.J. town declared war on its beaver neighbors. Boy did they misunderstand the enemy.
projects.nj.com
Project for @starledger.bsky.social and @nj.com: BEAVERS!
I spent over a year tracing the history of the beaver in #NewJersey and centering the war one small suburban town has had with the rodents. edt: @jessbeym.bsky.social, illustrations from @halseyberryman.bsky.social projects.nj.com/beavers/
I spent over a year tracing the history of the beaver in #NewJersey and centering the war one small suburban town has had with the rodents. edt: @jessbeym.bsky.social, illustrations from @halseyberryman.bsky.social projects.nj.com/beavers/
new for @starledger.bsky.social, I spoke with @newjerseypolitics.bsky.social , several nonprofits and gov’t officials about a heated proposal to build a gas pipeline under part of #NewJersey and New York. It comes after an election in which affordability and utility rates were dominant themes.
Can N.J. curb costs without selling its soul? A $1B pipeline shows the dilemma.
New Jersey's energy future is stuck between a pipeline and a hard place.
www.nj.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:29 PM
new for @starledger.bsky.social, I spoke with @newjerseypolitics.bsky.social , several nonprofits and gov’t officials about a heated proposal to build a gas pipeline under part of #NewJersey and New York. It comes after an election in which affordability and utility rates were dominant themes.
Reposted by Steven Rodas
#COP30
>5000 "lobbyists mingling with world leaders & climate negotiators [..] worked for at least 859 fossil fuel organizations including trade groups, foundations & 180 oil, gas & coal companies involved in every part of the supply chain from exploration & production to distribution & equipment"
>5000 "lobbyists mingling with world leaders & climate negotiators [..] worked for at least 859 fossil fuel organizations including trade groups, foundations & 180 oil, gas & coal companies involved in every part of the supply chain from exploration & production to distribution & equipment"
Exclusive by me: How thousands fossil fuel lobbyists got access to UN climate talks – and then oil and gas companies kept drilling
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
How thousands of fossil fuel lobbyists got access to UN climate talks – and then kept drilling
Exclusive: Research shows oil, gas and coal firms’ unprecedented access to Cop26-29, blocking urgent climate action
www.theguardian.com
November 8, 2025 at 11:06 PM
#COP30
>5000 "lobbyists mingling with world leaders & climate negotiators [..] worked for at least 859 fossil fuel organizations including trade groups, foundations & 180 oil, gas & coal companies involved in every part of the supply chain from exploration & production to distribution & equipment"
>5000 "lobbyists mingling with world leaders & climate negotiators [..] worked for at least 859 fossil fuel organizations including trade groups, foundations & 180 oil, gas & coal companies involved in every part of the supply chain from exploration & production to distribution & equipment"
Reposted by Steven Rodas
Good one from @stevenrodas.bsky.social here
A feel-good story about a small town rallying around an affable, stranded boater has taken an unexpected turn.
A bizarre shipwreck plagues this Jersey Shore town. Mysterious owner refuses to remove it.
A feel-good story about a small town rallying around an affable, stranded boater has taken an unexpected turn.
www.nj.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:42 AM
Good one from @stevenrodas.bsky.social here
mini-exclusive for @starledger.bsky.social, New Jersey is kicking a group of families from the historic Island Beach State Park fishing shacks. Leave or possibly face eviction after Friday, despite an initial lease agreement. With great photos from Andrew Mills www.nj.com/ocean/2025/1...
N.J. kicks heartbroken families out of iconic Jersey Shore shacks. Demolition awaits.
“We’re just hoping the good Lord fixes everything and we can stay," said one 87-year-old resident.
www.nj.com
October 30, 2025 at 1:12 PM
mini-exclusive for @starledger.bsky.social, New Jersey is kicking a group of families from the historic Island Beach State Park fishing shacks. Leave or possibly face eviction after Friday, despite an initial lease agreement. With great photos from Andrew Mills www.nj.com/ocean/2025/1...
Reposted by Steven Rodas
This is a really ambitious and cool forestry project and uh...not sure where they are going to find the funding for it now?
Unburned: An Investigation - Bay Nature
To protect the Plumas National Forest and its communities from the next megafire, the Forest Service plans to burn it—intentionally. Can $274 million do the job?
baynature.org
September 28, 2025 at 11:18 PM
This is a really ambitious and cool forestry project and uh...not sure where they are going to find the funding for it now?
Reposted by Steven Rodas
Here are the major ways federal/@realDonaldTrump environmental and energy policies and decisions have trickled down to #NewJersey since January (in no particular order)🧵1/
September 2, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Here are the major ways federal/@realDonaldTrump environmental and energy policies and decisions have trickled down to #NewJersey since January (in no particular order)🧵1/
Here are the major ways federal/@realDonaldTrump environmental and energy policies and decisions have trickled down to #NewJersey since January (in no particular order)🧵1/
September 2, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Here are the major ways federal/@realDonaldTrump environmental and energy policies and decisions have trickled down to #NewJersey since January (in no particular order)🧵1/
Reposted by Steven Rodas
I hope you understand that if you show up at a hospital with an infection no one has ever seen before that the US had somewhere you could call. That place would answer, offer testing you can’t get anywhere else and come visit you to solve if necessary.
September 1, 2025 at 3:32 AM
I hope you understand that if you show up at a hospital with an infection no one has ever seen before that the US had somewhere you could call. That place would answer, offer testing you can’t get anywhere else and come visit you to solve if necessary.
Special report for @starledger.bsky.social: Landfills!
Ten of #NewJersey’s 12 major landfills want to expand or have already begun to enlarge. Together, they are set to grow by 89 million cubic yards, which equals more than 27,000 Olympic-size swimming pools worth of new garbage.
Ten of #NewJersey’s 12 major landfills want to expand or have already begun to enlarge. Together, they are set to grow by 89 million cubic yards, which equals more than 27,000 Olympic-size swimming pools worth of new garbage.
N.J. is full of trash and landfills. Can families win the high-stakes war over their stench?
The Garden State's about to be stuffed with more people and more garbage than ever, setting up a high-stakes collision.
www.nj.com
August 14, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Special report for @starledger.bsky.social: Landfills!
Ten of #NewJersey’s 12 major landfills want to expand or have already begun to enlarge. Together, they are set to grow by 89 million cubic yards, which equals more than 27,000 Olympic-size swimming pools worth of new garbage.
Ten of #NewJersey’s 12 major landfills want to expand or have already begun to enlarge. Together, they are set to grow by 89 million cubic yards, which equals more than 27,000 Olympic-size swimming pools worth of new garbage.
Reposted by Steven Rodas
As housing costs soar, running water has become a luxury in Portland, Phoenix and other wealthy US cities. Latest for @bloomberg.com with Klara Auerbach, gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
Why Access to Running Water Is a Luxury in Wealthy US Cities
“Plumbing poverty” is surging in Houston, Phoenix, Portland, Oregon and other urban areas.
www.bloomberg.com
July 18, 2025 at 3:32 PM
As housing costs soar, running water has become a luxury in Portland, Phoenix and other wealthy US cities. Latest for @bloomberg.com with Klara Auerbach, gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
new for @starledger.bsky.social, I spent several weeks with one Newark family, speaking about the intersection of violence and heavy emissions. In #NewJersey, people like Koabie Mincey have reckoned with crime for years. It can make asthma worse, new research shows.
He grew up in a neighborhood of violence. An N.J. man’s struggle to breathe.
Crime and respiratory health are more connected than people realize, a Rutgers University expert said.
www.nj.com
July 8, 2025 at 12:51 PM
new for @starledger.bsky.social, I spent several weeks with one Newark family, speaking about the intersection of violence and heavy emissions. In #NewJersey, people like Koabie Mincey have reckoned with crime for years. It can make asthma worse, new research shows.
Reposted by Steven Rodas
Houston’s NWS office has lost its head meteorologist and has 11 vacancies. The shortages stem from federal cuts that slashed roughly 10% of NOAA’s staff.
Here's what these vaccines mean for Texans as they brace for a busy hurricane season. @texastribune.org www.texastribune.org/2025/06/09/t...
Here's what these vaccines mean for Texans as they brace for a busy hurricane season. @texastribune.org www.texastribune.org/2025/06/09/t...
Staff vacancies hit Texas weather offices as they brace for a busy hurricane season
Houston’s National Weather Service office has lost its head meteorologist amid a federal requirement to cut 10% of NOAA’s staff.
www.texastribune.org
June 16, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Houston’s NWS office has lost its head meteorologist and has 11 vacancies. The shortages stem from federal cuts that slashed roughly 10% of NOAA’s staff.
Here's what these vaccines mean for Texans as they brace for a busy hurricane season. @texastribune.org www.texastribune.org/2025/06/09/t...
Here's what these vaccines mean for Texans as they brace for a busy hurricane season. @texastribune.org www.texastribune.org/2025/06/09/t...
mini-exclusive for @starledger.bsky.social, I spent a day at one of the largest sewage plants in #NewJersey and learned about how it’s preparing for something you wouldn’t necessarily think about each time you take a bathroom break: rising sea levels. Why a massive flood wall may be the answer.
Don’t want sewage seeping into your basement? We need a mile-long wall, plant says.
The floodwall could cost as much as $70 million.
www.nj.com
June 28, 2025 at 12:48 PM
mini-exclusive for @starledger.bsky.social, I spent a day at one of the largest sewage plants in #NewJersey and learned about how it’s preparing for something you wouldn’t necessarily think about each time you take a bathroom break: rising sea levels. Why a massive flood wall may be the answer.
Reposted by Steven Rodas
Gardening is about love, and Ryan Krugman wrote a beautiful story about rooftop gardens in NY. Read and share!
insideclimatenews.org/news/2406202...
insideclimatenews.org/news/2406202...
A New York Rooftop Blossoms with Lessons About Food Literacy - Inside Climate News
The Hell’s Kitchen Farm Project grows more than beans and greens. It is an open-air classroom about nutrition high in the sky between Port Authority and the Lincoln Tunnel.
insideclimatenews.org
June 25, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Gardening is about love, and Ryan Krugman wrote a beautiful story about rooftop gardens in NY. Read and share!
insideclimatenews.org/news/2406202...
insideclimatenews.org/news/2406202...
new for @starledger.bsky.social, I obtained a @osha.gov citation showing a 49-year-old #NewJersey construction worker died in the blistering heat last summer. The latest extreme heat death has reinvigorated calls by @maketheroadnj.bsky.social and others for more worker protections.
It hit 93 degrees that day. An N.J. worker died in the blistering heat, OSHA says.
The 49-year-old collapsed while pouring concrete, OSHA said.
www.nj.com
June 23, 2025 at 4:05 PM
new for @starledger.bsky.social, I obtained a @osha.gov citation showing a 49-year-old #NewJersey construction worker died in the blistering heat last summer. The latest extreme heat death has reinvigorated calls by @maketheroadnj.bsky.social and others for more worker protections.
Reposted by Steven Rodas
When you went to the Iowa Writers Workshop but ended up in journalism
June 5, 2025 at 10:44 PM
When you went to the Iowa Writers Workshop but ended up in journalism
Reposted by Steven Rodas
1/ We got government data showing that the Trump administration knew the majority of Venezuelan men it sent to a prison in El Salvador had no criminal record in the U.S. - and that only a handful had been convicted of violent crimes - before calling them all terrorists and deporting them.
May 30, 2025 at 11:33 AM
1/ We got government data showing that the Trump administration knew the majority of Venezuelan men it sent to a prison in El Salvador had no criminal record in the U.S. - and that only a handful had been convicted of violent crimes - before calling them all terrorists and deporting them.
new for @starledger.bsky.social, #NewJersey may soon not be able to require all new vehicle sales be fully electric cars starting in 2035. The EV rule was set up to start next year.
#DonaldTrump can now squash N.J.’s plan to ban sales of new gas-powered cars
#DonaldTrump can now squash N.J.’s plan to ban sales of new gas-powered cars
Trump can now squash N.J.’s plan to ban sales of new gas-powered cars
Some have called the electric vehicle mandates impractical. Others say they are sorely needed given the emissions cars release.
www.nj.com
May 23, 2025 at 1:12 PM
new for @starledger.bsky.social, #NewJersey may soon not be able to require all new vehicle sales be fully electric cars starting in 2035. The EV rule was set up to start next year.
#DonaldTrump can now squash N.J.’s plan to ban sales of new gas-powered cars
#DonaldTrump can now squash N.J.’s plan to ban sales of new gas-powered cars
Reposted by Steven Rodas
Great story from @sam-karlin.bsky.social about just how many rural communities in Louisiana are facing water systems on the verge of a breakdown. Water is brown, murky and lots of federal $$$ still has not been enough to fix it.
www.nola.com/news/louisia...
www.nola.com/news/louisia...
As water runs brown in rural Louisiana, residents fear water systems are 'ticking time bomb'
In Hessmer, Mayor Robbie Dauzat said he “thanks God" every day without a water system breakdown.
“Our whole system is just a ticking time bomb waiting for something to happen.”
www.nola.com
May 13, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Great story from @sam-karlin.bsky.social about just how many rural communities in Louisiana are facing water systems on the verge of a breakdown. Water is brown, murky and lots of federal $$$ still has not been enough to fix it.
www.nola.com/news/louisia...
www.nola.com/news/louisia...
breaking for @starledger.bsky.social, @newjerseyoag.bsky.social announced an up to $450M settlement with @3M — the “largest PFAS settlement in #NewJersey history” over contamination in Salem County. The Chemours Company owns site and before that, DuPont. Polluters have used NJ as “dumping ground.”
May 13, 2025 at 2:59 PM
breaking for @starledger.bsky.social, @newjerseyoag.bsky.social announced an up to $450M settlement with @3M — the “largest PFAS settlement in #NewJersey history” over contamination in Salem County. The Chemours Company owns site and before that, DuPont. Polluters have used NJ as “dumping ground.”
new for @starledger.bsky.social, I spoke with families and nonprofit advocates who are worried the development of a massive data center in South Brunswick Twp will come with a big environmental price tag for #NewJersey
Tug-of-war erupts over huge stretch of N.J. land. Farmer’s paradise or a data center?
The data center on the storied land would be the size of 7 football fields.
www.nj.com
May 10, 2025 at 1:36 PM
new for @starledger.bsky.social, I spoke with families and nonprofit advocates who are worried the development of a massive data center in South Brunswick Twp will come with a big environmental price tag for #NewJersey
Reposted by Steven Rodas
Cumulatively, the turbines at xAI in S. Memphis can power 280,000 homes--and emit more smog-causing NOX than the actual gas power plant down the road or a nearby Valero refinery, according to calculations from
@selc.bsky.social . That's "essentially running a power plant without a permit."
@selc.bsky.social . That's "essentially running a power plant without a permit."
May 6, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Cumulatively, the turbines at xAI in S. Memphis can power 280,000 homes--and emit more smog-causing NOX than the actual gas power plant down the road or a nearby Valero refinery, according to calculations from
@selc.bsky.social . That's "essentially running a power plant without a permit."
@selc.bsky.social . That's "essentially running a power plant without a permit."
new for @starledger.bsky.social, health reporter Jackie Roman and I spent a couple of months speaking with former and current inmates about what they called unsafe and “dirty” water quality at #NewJersey prisons. Activists, including @cleanwaternj.bsky.social, are calling for an investigation
Inside N.J. prisons where clean water is so valuable it’s traded like cigarettes
It’s an unspoken rule in state prisons that staff and inmates should avoid drinking the water, current and former inmates told NJ Advance Media.
www.nj.com
May 5, 2025 at 11:44 AM
new for @starledger.bsky.social, health reporter Jackie Roman and I spent a couple of months speaking with former and current inmates about what they called unsafe and “dirty” water quality at #NewJersey prisons. Activists, including @cleanwaternj.bsky.social, are calling for an investigation
Reposted by Steven Rodas
“The truth is that it’s toxic,” Pedro Ramos, who is from Guatemala, said in Spanish about his job clearing wildfire debris
I followed workers who are cleaning up after the Los Angeles wildfires. 40 percent of this workforce are immigrants, many undocumented
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
I followed workers who are cleaning up after the Los Angeles wildfires. 40 percent of this workforce are immigrants, many undocumented
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
‘Exploitative’ contracts and hazardous conditions: life for some of the immigrants cleaning up wildfire-stricken LA
Advocates say workers risk their health and fear speaking out about conditions amid Trump’s immigration crackdown
www.theguardian.com
April 28, 2025 at 5:40 PM
“The truth is that it’s toxic,” Pedro Ramos, who is from Guatemala, said in Spanish about his job clearing wildfire debris
I followed workers who are cleaning up after the Los Angeles wildfires. 40 percent of this workforce are immigrants, many undocumented
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
I followed workers who are cleaning up after the Los Angeles wildfires. 40 percent of this workforce are immigrants, many undocumented
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
new for @starledger.bsky.social, I spoke with Kevin Stewart and @seilback.bsky.social of the @lungusa.bsky.social about the 6 #NewJersey counties that do not monitor for air pollutants. Somerset, Sussex, Burlington, Cape May, Salem and — most surprising for me — Essex counties
N.J. breathes in pollution, but we don’t measure air quality in 6 counties. Here’s why.
New Jersey's air quality has continued to suffer based on the data that experts do have.
www.nj.com
April 27, 2025 at 4:37 PM
new for @starledger.bsky.social, I spoke with Kevin Stewart and @seilback.bsky.social of the @lungusa.bsky.social about the 6 #NewJersey counties that do not monitor for air pollutants. Somerset, Sussex, Burlington, Cape May, Salem and — most surprising for me — Essex counties