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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Flurry of new laws a big, rare victory for climate-hawk governor
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed five pieces of climate legislation into law Tuesday in Seattle—a rare political success for a “climate hawk” governor and presidential candidate who has struggled to curtail greenhouse gas emissions in his state.
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Gov. Inslee signs flurry of anti-warming bills
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is scheduled to sign five pieces of climate legislation into law today in Seattle's Rainier Valley. Inslee has long pushed for action on climate change, but he's been unable to make a dent in the state's carbon pollution. KUOW's John Ryan reports.
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State skimps on road fixes for salmon despite federal court order
Washington state is under a federal court order to fix hundreds of stream crossings beneath state roads over the next decade. But it’s not coughing up the money to do that.
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After deadly crane collapse, state investigation begins
Kim Malcolm talks with KUOW reporter John Ryan about the investigation into Saturday's crane collapse that killed four people in Seattle.
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Crane collapse likely caused by human error, experts say
At least three sections of the crane plummeted to the ground.
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Got time? You can avoid 'flygskam' (Swedish for flight shame)
More people are flying each year, making aviation one of the fastest-growing problems for the world’s climate.
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Coming soon to Washington state: Cleaner power, buildings and appliances
Our electricity in Washington state is pretty clean, but it’s slated to get 100 percent clean in coming years.
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Thousands of employees urge Amazon to kick its fossil fuel habit
In an exceptionally large show of dissent from within a big tech firm, they’ve signed an open letter to CEO Jeff Bezos.
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Electric floatplanes could help sink two big pollution problems
The zero-emission planes can't fly far, but they could help sink two big air-pollution problems.
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Everett commits to 100 percent clean energy by 2045
"I used to believe, up until 2 or 3 years ago, perhaps naively, that this was an issue that we could count on somebody else to solve for us.”