Marco Chown Oved
Marco Chown Oved reports on climate change for the Toronto Star, with a beat built around practical climate solutions, energy systems and the way policy and technology shape everyday life. His coverage distinguishes itself by treating climate change as a problem with concrete tools and choices, not just abstract targets, and by testing those tools against real-world economics and safety. He brings investigative depth and on-the-ground reporting to stories that link household decisions, corporate behaviour and government action.
Climate solutions in everyday life
Oved’s core strand of work looks at what individuals and households can do to cut emissions, and whether those choices truly work in practice.
He reports on technologies such as heat pumps, rooftop solar panels and electric vehicles as off-the-shelf climate solutions that are already reshaping the economics of home heating, transportation and power generation. In one widely cited piece, he shows how “living green” can blunt the impact of fossil-fuel-driven inflation, using data analysis to compare the costs faced by low‑carbon households with those who rely on gasoline and natural gas. He writes how green upgrades can save homeowners money while also lowering system‑wide electricity costs, and asks why cities with millions of residents still have only a few thousand rooftop solar installations despite the financial upside.
His awarded and shortlisted work in climate solutions reporting emphasizes that these technologies are not speculative fixes but present-day shifts whose widespread adoption is now driven by price rather than policy alone. Across this strand, he treats climate action as a series of specific consumer and household decisions, then tests whether the incentives, regulations and market structures around those decisions help or hinder their uptake.
Energy systems and economic transition
A second consistent thread in Oved’s reporting examines how the energy transition affects workers, industries and regional economies. He follows drillers and tradespeople moving from declining oilpatch work into geothermal projects, using their stories to show how renewable infrastructure can offer continuity of skills and income during a shift away from fossil fuels. In coverage of geothermal heating deals, he explains how large‑scale projects are bringing low‑carbon heating into mainstream development and what that means for the construction sector and utility planning.
He also tracks the changing economics of electricity supply, documenting how recent procurements have secured wind and solar power at prices far below existing renewable contracts, gas plants and nuclear reactors. In those pieces, he scrutinizes political claims about the cost of renewables against competitive bidding results, highlighting where government rhetoric diverges from market data.
His energy transition work connects technology, labour and policy, showing how shifts in generation and heating reshape job prospects and regional economic strategies.
Risk, safety and accountability
Oved’s reporting frequently tests climate and energy technologies against safety records, regulatory gaps and corporate accountability.
In coverage of Tesla’s electronic door systems, including the fatal fire that exposed hazards for occupants trapped inside and the subsequent recall of millions of vehicles, he follows how design choices become life‑and‑death issues when cars catch fire and doors fail to open. He extends that work by examining the absence of manual door releases in certain models and documenting his own experience modifying a vehicle to address that risk, blending personal involvement with reporting on a pattern of deaths in burning electric cars. His investigative approach to electric-vehicle policy is also evident in reporting on a surge in Tesla subsidy claims near the end of a federal program, where he traces how corporate tactics and program design left independent auto dealers bearing millions in losses before government reversed course.
In his wildfire series, he ties climate change to faster, more destructive fires and shows how provincial systems for fighting them are falling behind, combining first‑person reporting, scientific research and accountability journalism. For that work he went through wildland firefighter certification to better understand field conditions, then used that experience to examine whether authorities were prepared for the “sleeping giant” fires threatening northern communities.
Across these stories, he applies investigative tools and immersive reporting to questions of safety, regulation and responsibility in a warming world.
Explaining climate change across formats
Beyond print, Oved extends his climate beat through audio and other formats that deepen his explanatory work. He hosts the podcast “Small Things Big Climate,” where episodes explore topics such as the climate impact of beef, the benefits and barriers to heat pumps, the role of plastic in everyday life and the rise of e‑bikes as car alternatives.
Those conversations focus on clear rules of thumb and practical guidance, while stressing the limits of purely individual action and highlighting collective efforts to scale up solutions. As a guest on the Toronto Star’s “This Matters” podcast, he breaks down why wildfires in Ontario have become more dangerous, and describes what he learned by getting certified as a wildland firefighter to report on the issue. His public and professional profiles describe his current role as a climate change reporter at the Star, a position he has held since early 2022 and that centres on solution‑oriented coverage.
Taken together, his articles, series and audio work present climate change as a lived, present‑tense issue with specific tools, trade‑offs and risks, rather than a distant or purely political debate.
4 more environment journalists.
Adam Kovac
Adam Kovac is a breaking news reporter at Scientific American who explains fast-moving stories where science, climate and public policy intersect. His beat spans climate-driven extremes, El Niño, energy, infrastructure, space, mathematics and public health. He has written about super El Niño, extreme weather, ozone recovery, diesel prices, electric rain, peeling paint, wine chemistry, lunar craters, space missions, NASA telescopes, vaccines, IVF treatments, TikTok remedies and AI-created viruses. He also covers regulation, political campaigns and pressures on scientific institutions. His stories are fast-turn news features and explainers. He uses expert quotes and clear descriptions of underlying mechanisms to show why developments matter. He connects technical details to practical stakes, including risks to ecosystems, economies, patients, public safety, technology and long-term scientific work.
Angela Capobianco
Angela Capobianco stands out for reporting how policy, infrastructure and environmental decisions translate into concrete effects for workers, residents and vulnerable communities. She is a digital broadcast journalist at Global News and works as a general assignment video journalist with a focus on environmental reporting, municipal affairs, housing and labour. Her stories cover labour protections, municipal governance, environmental conflicts and social policy. She reports on how land use, climate and regulatory choices affect communities, from glyphosate spraying fears in Bear River to extreme heat and support for people sleeping rough. She also covers workers’ rights, long-term care strikes, municipal budgets, ferry service delays, heritage designation, housing reuse, and bridge replacement plans, with close attention to negotiations, official decisions and on-the-ground impact.
Arrthy Thayaparan
Arrthy Thayaparan is a CBC News reporter who shows how government decisions affect daily life. She covers climate, transportation, education, community issues, trade, tariffs and the cost of living. Her reporting examines how policy changes affect prices, public services, employers, workers, consumers and families. She has written about Ontario businesses facing tariff pressures, ticket resale rules, tariff support funding, transit changes after the Scarborough RT derailment, highway speed limits, education union talks and mandatory school platforms. She also covers public-service work rules, community-service funding, municipal campaigns, tenant protections and the economic effects of major events. Thayaparan reports through concrete numbers, program details and timelines. She gives space to governments, unions, workers, businesses and residents, and traces decisions from political debate to their effects on commutes, classrooms, budgets, workplaces and neighbourhoods.
Bianca McKeown
Bianca McKeown stands out for reporting the everyday consequences of climate change, infrastructure decisions, social policy and Indigenous governance in northern communities. She reports for CBC North across television, radio and digital. Her work focuses on how weather shifts, wildlife changes and development projects affect daily life, travel, safety and local economies. She covers large infrastructure and energy proposals, foster parent payments, cost of living, vulnerable families and Indigenous leadership. She also reports on national reconciliation efforts and the role of Inuit voices in decision-making. Her stories rely on practical details, community voices, interviews and clear descriptions of what residents, officials and advocates face on the ground. Her coverage is direct and descriptive, and it connects policy decisions to lived reality.