Burning Rivers

January 15, 2012–

Corps Puts Searchable National Levee Database Online

November 2, 2011–Levees have huge environmental and human impacts, but are often neglected by news media until disaster strikes. The NLD should make reporting both routine and crisis stories a lot easier. The bad news is that after several years of work by the Corps, only a small fraction of all the levees in the US have been entered into the database.

Other Information Access News in Brief

November 2, 2011–Climate scientist Michael Mann wins bid to join emails lawsuit; BP and other Gulf oil spill CEOs won't testify before House committee; Republican House freshmen disappointed by Supercommittee's secrecy; Obama admin to issue disclosure rules for fracking on federal lands; WRI/Transparency Int'l panel on climate policy corruption, Nov. 3, 2011, in DC; proposed FOIA rule would let gov't deny existence of records; and bill to improve pipeline safety and increase access to info passes Senate.

SkyTruth Launches Online Environmental Accident Mapper

October 19, 2011–Reporters can now get a better picture of breaking environmental pollution events via SkyTruth Alerts on air and water pollution incidents, toxic spills, and more.

Covering Trauma, Surviving Trauma and Gaining New Insight into How To Handle It

October 15, 2011–In the Fall SEJournal, Miami-based radio news director Dan Grech recounts his journey covering the traumatic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, becoming homeless thanks to Hurricane Wilma, his subsequent training on trauma reporting, and shares his lessons learned with you.

TVA Public Relations Staff Edited Engineer's Report on Failed Coal-Ash Dam

September 21, 2011–Dam inspections began before the Dec. 2008 spill incident of 5.4 million cubic yards of coal-ash slurry in Tennessee. Afterward, the initial draft engineer's report of the pre-spill inspection noted several eroded areas needed to be fixed "immediately;" the word was subsequently struck from the report.

Special Edition: Natural Disasters Toolbox

August 31, 2011–When covering each type of natural disaster, you'll need to dig into a wide range of human, weather/climate, and geography issues to describe accurately to your audience what the trends are, how prevention and emergency responses might be improved, etc. Here are resources for hurricanes, tornadoes, thunderstorms, heat waves, drought, blizzards, and more.

West Coast Damage May Presage Future Climate Change Effects

August 3, 2011–The effects of the 2009-2010 El Niño winter on western shorelines may be an indicator of what could occur more frequently as climate change continues, say researchers from the USGS, Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, Washington State Department of Ecology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Oregon State University, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

SEJ Offers Resources for Covering Summer Stories

July 20, 2011–Wildfire, hurricanes, recreation, extreme heat, drought, electric brownouts, UV rays and sunscreen, insect-borne disease like West Nile virus, fishing, dead zones, and algal blooms — TipSheet can help you cover these local environmental stories.

BP Blowout

July 15, 2011–