Ken Silverstein (business journalist)

Ken Silverstein is an American business journalist focusing on global energy issues, climate and environmental issues, and international economics. He is a senior contributor to the Forbes website and has written for The Christian Science Monitor.

Biography
Silverstein received a BA and an MBA from Tulane University, and an MA in print journalism from American University. His first job in journalism was working in New York City as an intern for PBS's The McNeil/Lehrer Report in 1983, shortly before it expanded to The McNeil/Lehrer NewsHour.

From the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, he covered the financial sector. He then shifted to the energy beat during the Enron Era. He became one of the first online energy columnists, analyses known as IssueAlert and EnergyBiz Insider. The column was picked up and reproduced by multiple news organizations. Silverstein's work has been cited on news sites and referenced in national magazines, newspapers and journals such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, Atlantic Monthly, Chicago Tribune, Inside Sources and the HuffPost. In 2024, his columns appeared in the Boulder Daily Camera, Lincoln Journal Star, Jacksonville Journal-Courier, Buffalo News, Wisconsin State Journal, Las Vegas Sun, Bangor Daily News, Arizona Daily Star, STL Today, Richmond Times Dispatch, Tulsa World, Charleston Post & Courier. His business reporting and columns about global warming and the environment focus on coal, natural gas, nuclear, wind, and solar energies.

The author's focus is increasingly international, with energy, environmental, and trade coverage from Africa, China, Japan, Thailand, the Middle East, South America, and Europe. Silverstein has appeared on PBS' White House Chronicles with Llewellyn King to discuss his coverage of China.

He is a regular panelist at the United States Energy Association's virtual press events, discussing current events with notable energy sources. He has also been a guest on National Public Radio to discuss the shale gas boom occurring in the Marsellus Basin. He has also appeared on CSPAN as part of the US Energy Association's virtual press briefings and for his coverage in the 1990s.

Enron
Silverstein was part of a team that produced editorial projects for Primedia magazines during the early 2000s. That work focused on regulatory issues in California. As a columnist for IssueAlert, Silverstein focused on ethics, corporate culture, crisis mitigation, and Enron. At the time he placed part of the blame for the Enron crisis on the media. Enron and its impact on corporate conduct is a theme in which Silverstein revisited in Forbes May 2013 and EnergyBiz July 2013.

Southern California Edison
In 2012 and 2013, Silverstein wrote a series of stories about Southern California Edison's nuclear operations in Southern California. Sources inside the company had told him confidentially that the utility had known of defects with its new steam generators several years before those same issues had caused small radiation leaks in 2012.

Global South and Rainforest Nations
In 2022, Silverstein's coverage expanded to include the global south and the rainforest nations. The goal is to learn how they plan to reduce carbon emissions and raise revenues to support their developing economies. Silverstein has met with government leaders worldwide, including Honduran President Xiomara Castro. He has worked with and profiled climate and political leaders in Belize, Brazil, China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Gabon, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Suriname, and St. Lucia.

Awards and recognition
Media Industry News (MIN) honored Silverstein as one of the "Most Intriguing People in Media."

Silverstein was presented the Gold for Original Web Commentary by the American Society of Business Press Editors in 2012. ASBPE Award

Silverstein's column "Will the Nuclear Sector Rise Again?" for EnergyBiz Insider won the Best Online Column in 2011 presented by Media Industry News. In 2011 he was named a top economic and financial journalist by the nonprofit Wall Street Economists Institute project.

Silverstein's article "Venezuela’s Power Grab" for EnergyBiz Insider was awarded the bronze for Original Web Commentary at the 2008 American Society of Business Publication Editors National Digital Awards. His article "Energizing America" for EnergyBiz Insider received an honorable mention for online column at the 2010 MinOnline Editorial and Design Awards.