Elizabeth Shogren

Elizabeth Shogren, a veteran newspaper reporter, came to NPR in February 2005 to cover environmental issues on the National Desk.

Prior to NPR, Shogren spent 14 years as a reporter on a variety of beats at The Los Angeles Times. For the last four years she reported on environmental issues in Washington, D.C., and across the country. From 1993 - 2000, Shogren worked from The Los Angeles Times' Washington bureau covering 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 Newsweek, The Dallas Morning News, 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.

After earning a B.A. in Russian studies at the University of Virginia in 1985, Shogren went on to receive an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University in 1987.

In her free time, Shogren enjoys hiking and backcountry skiing with her husband, Jeff, and their dog, Trekker.

Pages

6:00am

Sun July 24, 2011
Environment

EPA Seeks To Tighten Ozone Standards

Credit Ramin Talaie / Getty Images

The Environmental Protection Agency is expected any day now to tighten the standard for how much ozone is safe to breathe, but the level of ozone that scientists say is safe doesn't sit well with industry. The agency decision is sitting at the White House, awaiting approval.

The EPA is redoing the ozone standard set under President George W. Bush. The Bush administration's EPA ignored the advice of its own panel of outside scientific advisers. It set the standard for a healthy level of ozone in the air at 75 parts per billion.

Read more

1:00pm

Wed July 20, 2011
NPR Story

Agency Says Whitebark Pines Should Be Protected

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced this week that Whitebark pine trees should be protected as an endangered species — but the agency will not list the trees as threatened or endangered because of a lack of funding. The trees are a critical part of the ecosystems of the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada but have been dying at alarming rates due to the effects of climate change.

3:00pm

Thu July 7, 2011
Environment

EPA Issues New Standards For Coal-Burning Plants

The Environmental Protection Agency sent a strong message Thursday to power plants that burn coal. It's time to clean up dirty exhausts that travel long distances, and 75 percent of Americans will breathe healthier air as a result.

The new EPA transport rule is designed to clean up the pollution that blows from power plants into other states. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson says it's about fairness.

Read more

6:33am

Wed July 6, 2011
Environment

White House Study Explains Why GOP Targets EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency has become a target of House Republicans and of GOP presidential hopefuls. They say its rules are job killers. A new White House report finds air pollution rules from the EPA cost far more than other government regulations. But they also result in far more benefits than other government mandates.

12:01am

Mon July 4, 2011
Environment

Two Scouts Want Palm Oil Out Of Famous Cookies

A lot of adult environmentalists have been trying for years to focus attention on tropical rain forests in southeast Asia, but it took two teenagers to get the issue on the front page of a national newspaper and on the network news.

Four years ago, Rhiannon Tomtishen and Madison Vorva started studying orangutans for a Girl Scouts project. What they learned inspired them to start a campaign to raise awareness of the damage that palm plantations are causing the great apes.

Read more

Pages