As funding from the U.S. government’s massive infrastructure bill starts to get spent, big swaths of it on environmental-related concerns, Reporter’s Toolbox points to a problem for journalists covering it — there appears to be no single database to help track the money. But for intrepid reporters, various data sources are out there to help tell the story.
In a second Issue Backgrounder looking at major environmental questions before the U.S. Supreme Court, SEJournal considers the long-standing controversy about the definition of “waters of the United States.” The Clean Water Act case, which the high court could (re)decide during its next term, would have profound environmental and economic implications. The latest Backgrounder wades into the issue.
"Search teams found a backpack, laptop and other personal items that belonged to Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira and freelance British journalist Dom Phillips, who went missing in a remote area of Brazil’s Amazon a week ago, Federal Police said Sunday night."
"A rare plant that depends on wetlands for survival is now on the federal endangered species list, a designation that environmentalists say will boost efforts to protect the last free-flowing river in the desert Southwest."
"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will spend the next year assessing whether to protect Yellowstone bison under the Endangered Species Act — a court-mandated move that could upend recent attempts to reestablish wild herds on tribal reservations across the west."
"An Alaska Native tribe has nominated for consideration as a national marine sanctuary an area around the Pribilof Islands that supports Stellar sea lions, northern fur seals and other marine life."
"Electric vehicle charging stations built with federal dollars should be positioned along Interstates every 50 miles, be able to recharge cars quickly and be located no more than a mile from a major highway, according to new rules proposed by the Biden administration on Thursday."
"The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed the Water Resources Development Act of 2022, which would further Everglades Restoration efforts, as well as improve management of the nation’s waterways, and fund flood control and coastal resiliency projects."
"In a major move, the Biden administration will phase out the sale of single-use plastics across the country’s beloved national parks, wildlife refuges and other public lands, in a multiyear process that will culminate by 2032."
"Hudson Canyon, a vast gorge in the Atlantic Ocean that is home to endangered whales, sharks, sea turtles, would become a national marine sanctuary under a proposal made by the Biden administration on Wednesday."
