StateImpact, NPR reporters to host virtual town hall about pandemic’s effect on the environment

Questions about the environment under COVID-19? Register and ask.

Susan Phillips

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Susan Phillips tells stories about the consequences of political decisions on people's every day lives. She has worked as a reporter for WHYY since 2004. Susan's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election resulted in a story on the front page of the New York Times. In 2010 she traveled to Haiti to cover the earthquake. That same year she produced an award-winning series on Pennsylvania's natural gas rush called "The Shale Game." She received a 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award for her work covering natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. She has also won several Edward R. Murrow awards for her work with StateImpact. In 2013/14 she spent a year at MIT as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. She has also been a Metcalf Fellow, an MBL Logan Science Journalism Fellow and reported from Marrakech on the 2016 climate talks as an International Reporting Project Fellow. A graduate of Columbia School of Journalism, she earned her Bachelor's degree in International Relations from George Washington University.

Matt Slocum / AP Photo

Fighter Kyle Daukaus, left, and his brother and training partner Chris Daukaus, walk home after exercising at Pleasant Hill Park, Saturday, May 2, 2020, in Philadelphia. Kyle, a rising star in the regional MMA promotion Cage Fury Fighting Championships, is still chasing his dream of getting the call to fight for UFC despite the coronavirus pandemic.

May 27, 2020 | 4:45 PM

Widespread reports note the positive impact the lockdown has had on the environment, including lower carbon emissions, better air quality and reductions in the use of fossil fuels like coal and gasoline. Renewable energy has gotten a boost, while some say COVID-19 could hasten the ongoing decline of coal burning power plants.

At 4 p.m. Thursday, you can join a webinar during which three journalists who cover environmental and energy issues will answer your questions on how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted the environment:

Susan Phillips, WHYY StateImpact Pennsylvania reporter
Reid Frazier, energy reporter for the StateImpact and The Allegheny Front, and host of Trump on Earth podcast
Jeff Brady, NPR’s energy and environment reporter

Go here to register; it’s free.