Coal burning is a major climate threat. Indonesia’s push to build scores of coal-fired power plants could lock in coal demand for decades, while driving carbon emissions, worsening air and water pollution, and resulting in further environmental degradation including forest destruction. Expanded coal demand will also exacerbate social conflict, land-grabbing, corruption, and further concentration of wealth and power in the hands of oligarchs. Yet this coal development can still be stopped. Highlighting the dangers and risks of coal expansion among the public, policymakers, and international financiers could spur a shift toward greener and more equitable forms of energy.

We welcome story pitches on the impacts of coal mining, production, and use in Indonesia. Themes could include trends in the coal industry, social and environmental impacts of the sector, and opposition to mining and coal-fired power plants. We are also publishing a small number of stories exploring similar themes in countries outside North America.

Opinion pieces will not be considered.

Mongabay will negotiate all fees and contracts on a per-story basis. Completed stories will be paid per word, depending on the journalist’s experience, and will be published on Mongabay.com under an open Creative Commons license that allows for sharing and re-posting. We will also offer a small payment to journalists who proactively get their stories republished in major third-party print media outlets and on sites that draw more than 100,000 unique visitors per month. Small sums are available to help defray travel costs.

All applications must be submitted in English, and all final reporting will be published first in English. However, Indonesian-language journalists are encouraged to pitch stories in Bahasa Indonesia to Sapariah Saturi, one of our Indonesian editors.

Please submit your Indonesian coal pitch here, along with your journalism resume. Pitches should be roughly 500 words in length. They should clearly explain the specific subject you would like to write about and your approach to covering it, describe a few potential sources, and include whether travel funding is necessary to complete the project (travel funds are very limited). As this is an ongoing pitch solicitation, there is no deadline for submissions.