Chris Mooney

Chris Mooney is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer at The Washington Post, specializing in energy and the environment. His work often addresses the intersection of science and politics, with notable articles such as a Columbia Journalism Review feature story about the problem with "balance" in science coverage and a Boston Globe commentary on the political challenges faced by scientists. Mooney's first book, "The Republican War on Science," established his reputation in the field, and he has since published three more books focused on science and climate change.

Born in Mesa, Arizona, and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Mooney graduated from Yale University in 1999, where he was a columnist for the Yale Daily News. His early career included a two-year stint at The American Prospect, where he served as a writing fellow, staff writer, and online editor, contributing to the creation of the blog, Tapped. Mooney's reporting has taken him to diverse locations such as the Amazon, the Petermann glacier in Greenland, and native villages in the Alaskan Arctic, enriching his coverage of environmental issues.

In addition to his Pulitzer Prize in 2020 for Explanatory Reporting, awarded for a series on the effects of extreme temperatures on the planet, Mooney has contributed to various other publications, including Wired, Slate, Salon, and Mother Jones. He regularly engages with the academic community, speaking at institutions such as Harvard University, Franklin & Marshall College, and Rutgers University, and continues to write a column for The American Prospect Online and contributes monthly to the Skeptical Inquirer magazine website, where he is a contributing editor.