The National Press Foundation presents the Thomas L. Stokes Award to a U.S.-based journalist for reporting excellence on the subject of energy and environment.
The Stokes Award was established in the spring of 1959 by friends and admirers of the late Thomas L. Stokes, a syndicated Washington columnist on national affairs. It is given annually for the best reporting “in the independent spirit of Tom Stokes” on subjects of interest to him, including energy, natural resources and the environment.
The winner of the award receives $2,500. The journalism may be reporting, analysis or commentary. The award is open to all media and the entry should represent the highest standards of journalism.
Alex Harris and Susan Merriam from The Miami Herald have won the 2025 Thomas L. Stokes Award for Best Energy and Environment Writing from the National Press Foundation.
Harris and Merriam’s investigative series reveals how climate change and street flooding are reshaping life—and property values—in South Florida, often in ways the public can’t easily see. It shows that despite rising seas and repeated flooding, home prices remain strong in a “climate denial bubble,” with risks largely ignored or hidden in sales data. The reporting also uncovers a major gap in oversight: no single government agency tracks street flooding, and the worst impacts often fall outside official FEMA flood zones.
“By mapping a decade of flooding and combining data with on-the-ground reporting, the series gives residents clear, concrete insight into a growing threat that officials have failed to fully explain or monitor,” said the judges. “The series exemplifies strong, creative, data-driven local reporting designed for impact. It is a deeply human story featuring revelatory data analysis on the impact to property outside FEMA’s flood maps.”
Hiroko Tabuchi from the New York Times won the 2024 Thomas L. Stokes Award for Best Energy and Environment Writing from the National Press Foundation.
Tabuchi wrote a series for the Times about “forever chemicals,” and the negative effects they may have on farms, children and the nation as a whole, which Tabuchi reveals the EPA knew about. Tabuchi’s series explores the negligence of the regulators, who are fearful of the possible economic impacts of testing for these chemicals.
Applications for the 2026 award, to be presented in April 2027, will open in early spring 2027.
