Elizabeth Shogren
Elizabeth Shogren is an NPR °µºÚ±¬ÁÏ Science Desk correspondent focused on covering environment and energy issues and news.
Since she came to NPR in 2005, Shogren's reporting has covered everything from the damage caused by the BP oil spill on the ecology of the Gulf Coast, to the persistence of industrial toxic air pollution as seen by the legacy of Tonawanda Coke near Buffalo, to the impact of climate change on American icons like grizzly bears.
Prior to NPR, Shogren spent 14 years as a reporter on a variety of beats at The Los Angeles Times, including four years reporting on environmental issues in Washington, D.C., and across the country. While working from the paper's Washington bureau, from 1993-2000, Shogren covered the White House, Congress, social policy, money and politics, and presidential campaigns. During that time, Shogren was given the opportunity to travel abroad on short-term foreign reporting assignments, including the Kosovo crisis in 1999, the Bosnian war in 1996, and Russian elections in 1993 and 1996. Before joining the Washington bureau, Shogren was based in Moscow where she covered the breakup of the Soviet Union and the rise of democracy in Russia for the newspaper.
Beginning in 1988, Shogren worked as a freelance reporter based in Moscow, publishing in a variety of newspapers and magazines, including °µºÚ±¬ÁÏweek, The Dallas Morning °µºÚ±¬ÁÏ, the San Francisco Chronicle, and The Washington Post. During that time, she covered the fall of the Berlin Wall and the peaceful revolution in Prague.
Shogren's career in journalism began in the wire services. She worked for the Associated Press in Chicago and at United Press International in Albany, NY.
Throughout Shogren's career she has received numerous awards and honors including as a finalist for the 2011 Goldsmith Prize for investigative reporting, the National Wildlife Federation National Conservation Achievement Award, the Meade Prize for coverage of air pollution and she was an IRE finalist. She is a member of Sigma Delta Chi and the Society of Professional Journalist.
After earning a Bachelor of Arts in Russian studies at the University of Virginia, Shogren went on to receive a Master of Science in journalism from Columbia University.
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In his State of the Union speech, President Obama called for more domestic oil and gas production, saying that "a future where we're in control of our own energy" is within reach, where the nation's security and prosperity would not be so closely linked to unstable parts of the world.
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President Obama's critics say he has blocked domestic oil production. But under his administration, a steady uptick in U.S. drilling operations, combined with falling overall consumption, has led to a steep drop in the percentage of oil the U.S. imports. Analysts say by 2035, the U.S. will import a little more than a third of its oil, down from 60 percent in 2005. -
The rules, which come two decades after Congress ordered the agency to regulate toxic air pollution, would give power plants nationwide just three more years to slash mercury and other harmful emissions. But some big power plants are angling for more time. -
For the first time, a government study has tied contamination in drinking water to an advanced drilling technique commonly known as "fracking." EPA scientists found high levels of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing in the ground water of a small Wyoming town. -
SolarCity says it will install solar systems on the roofs of up to 120,000 military homes, with financing coming from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. It's the first time a project of this scale has been launched without the federal government basically co-signing the loan. -
After Tonawanda's residents got sick, they vowed to fight high levels of hazardous chemicals emitting from a dilapidated plant. In doing so, they found weaknesses in how EPA regulates air pollution.
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The system Congress set up to clean up poisonous air pollution still leaves many communities exposed to risky concentrations of benzene, formaldehyde, mercury and many other hazardous chemicals. -
The military is trying to make big changes in what fuel it uses. The Air Force and Navy have been testing their aircraft — everything from fighters to unmanned spy planes — on fuel made from vegetable oil or even animal fat. One catch: It costs 10 times the price of traditional fuel. -
Although the fuel economy targets are tough, industry leaders say the Obama administration's regulations line up with customer demands. -
Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced Monday that since Congress has failed to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind law, he will begin granting waivers that exempt states from some of its mandates. But House Republicans complained that the secretary should have waited for Congress.
