Jeff Brady
Jeff Brady is a National Desk Correspondent based in Philadelphia, where he covers energy issues and climate change. Brady helped establish NPR's environment and energy collaborative which brings together NPR and Member station reporters from across the country to cover the big stories involving the natural world.
Brady approaches stories from the consumer side of the light switch and the gas pump in an effort to demystify an energy system that can seem complicated and opaque. Brady has reported on natural gas utilities fighting to preserve their business in a world more concerned about climate change, the long saga over the Keystone XL oil pipeline, the closing of a light bulb factory in Pennsylvania and how gas ranges pollute homes and make climate change worse.
In 2017 his reporting showed a history of racism and sexism that have made it difficult for the oil business to diversify its workforce. A union at the center of that reporting now faces a class-action lawsuit from its Black members.
In 2011 Brady led NPR's coverage of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal at Penn State—from the night legendary football coach Joe Paterno was fired to the trial where Sandusky was found guilty.
In 2005, Brady was among the NPR reporters who covered the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. His reporting on flooded cars left behind after the storm exposed efforts to stall the implementation of a national car titling system. Today, the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System is operational and the Department of Justice estimates it could save car buyers up to $11 billion a year.
Before coming to NPR in September 2003, Brady was a reporter at Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) in Portland. He has also worked in commercial television as an anchor and a reporter, and in commercial radio as a talk-show host and reporter.
Brady graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Southern Oregon State College (now Southern Oregon University). In 2018 SOU honored Brady with its annual "Distinguished Alumni" award.
-
President Trump will sign executive actions Tuesday that aim to roll back a sweeping set of climate policies put in place by the Obama administration. A moratorium on new coal leases on public lands, a rule designed to address methane emissions from oil and gas operations and the Clean Power Plan, will all get a review.
-
While Barack Obama's energy policy focused on renewable power and climate change, President Trump is focused on extracting fossil fuels. Among big changes, some predict higher prices at the pump.
-
President Donald Trump took executive action designed to speed approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline and the Dakota Access Pipeline. Opponents say they will challenge the projects at every step.
-
The former Texas governor once said he would abolish the Department of Energy. Now, as Trump's pick for the agency head, he said said his view on that — and global warming — have changed.
-
The White House ordered an indefinite ban on offshore oil drilling in large parts of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. Officials say President-elect Trump will not be able to automatically overturn it.
-
President-elect Donald Trump nominated ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson for secretary of State. It may seem an odd choice at first, but running a big oil company requires sophisticated diplomatic skills.
-
President-elect Donald Trump may nominate ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to be secretary of state. The oil executive is a giant in the business world, but not as well known in political circles.
-
The Dakota Access Pipeline protests attract people from all over the world. They all oppose the construction of the oil pipeline, and they come for many personal reasons, too.
-
Under President Obama, fossil fuel opponents successfully blocked the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Now the keep-it-in-the-ground movement faces new challenges with the election of Donald Trump.
-
Trump narrowly won Pennsylvania but Philadelphia went the other direction and overwhelmingly backed Hillary Clinton. That has a lot of people in the City of Brotherly Love wondering about the future.