John Ryan
Environment Reporter
About
John Ryan joined KUOW as its first full-time investigative reporter in 2009 and became its environment reporter in 2018. He focuses on climate change, energy, and the ecosystems of the Puget Sound region. He has also investigated toxic air pollution, landslides, failed cleanups, and money in politics for KUOW.
Over a quarter century as an environmental journalist, John has covered everything from Arctic drilling to Indonesian reef bombing. He has been a reporter at NPR stations in southeast and southwest Alaska (KTOO-Juneau and KUCB-Unalaska) and at the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce.
John’s stories have won multiple national awards for KUOW, including the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi awards for Public Service in Radio Journalism and for Investigative Reporting, national Edward R. Murrow and PMJA/PRNDI awards for coverage of breaking news, and Society of Environmental Journalists awards for in-depth reporting.
John welcomes tips, documents, and feedback. Reach him at jryan@kuow.org or for secure, encrypted communication, he's at heyjohnryan@protonmail.com or 1-401-405-1206 on the Signal messaging app.
Location: Seattle
Languages: English, some Spanish, some Indonesian
Professional Affiliations: SAG-AFTRA union member and former shop steward; Society of Environmental Journalists member and mentor
Stories
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Environment
WA lawmakers eye ban on 2-mile-long trains
A bill, approved by the House Transportation Committee Thursday afternoon, would prohibit most trains over 7,500 feet long. Advocates say the move would reduce the danger of rail accidents.
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Environment
Hydropower in western U.S. resurges after hitting 20-year low
With 145 large federal dams, Washington state is the nation’s leading producer of hydropower.
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Environment
Seattle hospital puts patients under without overheating the planet
The gases that are used to sedate patients also heat up the climate in a big way.
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Environment
Washington state starts capping climate pollution from its biggest sources
Washington state is going after big polluters as it tries to slash its planet-heating pollution.
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Government
Change the channel? New (or very old) name sought for Hood Canal
Members of the Skokomish Tribe say they’ve had a perfectly good name for the waterway in the heart of their territory for thousands of years.
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Environment
Scientists try to keep up with chemical blizzard entering Puget Sound
Wastewater treatment plants are sending hundreds of unregulated chemicals into Puget Sound.
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Environment
RIP Washington’s Hinman Glacier, gone after thousands of years
The largest glacier between the high peaks of Mount Rainier and Glacier Peak has melted away after a long battle with global warming.
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FBI warned of neo-Nazi plots as attacks on Northwest grid spiked
As a string of attacks on electrical substations unfolded in Oregon and Washington in 2022, the FBI was warning utilities of white supremacists’ plots to take down the nation’s power grid. A KUOW/OPB investigation reveals the scope of the threat to the Northwest grid.
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Crime
Suspects in Christmas grid attacks planned additional crimes, prosecutors say
The men charged with attacking four substations in Pierce County on Christmas day were plotting even more attacks on the power grid before they were arrested, according to federal prosecutors.
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Crime
Washington grid attacks flew under the radar for months
DOE data and other reporting by KUOW reveal previously unreported attacks on substations in Washington state this summer.