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.

Changing Planet, Changing Health: How the Climate Crisis Threatens Our Health and What We Can Do About It

July 15, 2011–

EPA Vows To Improve IRIS Toxic Effects Database

July 13, 2011–The more transparent Integrated Risk Information System would have shorter and clearer effects of hazard assessments and use more graphics and tables to present the data.

Don't "Wonder" About U.S. Disease Data — Look It up in CDC's Database

June 29, 2011–WONDER is a single portal for using a variety of databases related to public health that are maintained by CDC. Many are relevant to the environment beat, such as asthma and allergy prevalence, lung disease, cancer, agricultural safety, pesticides, occupational exposure, chemical hazards, waterborne disease, foodborne disease, and adverse vaccine events.

Is FCC Slow To Reveal Cell Phone Risks?

June 1, 2011–A World Health Organization panel finds cell phone radiation might present a cancer risk , and spotlights ongoing reluctance by the Federal Communications Commission to share publicly all the health information it has on the subject — and possible complicity with industry in hushing the research.

USFS Releases Court-Ordered EIS for Fire Retardants

May 25, 2011–Information sessions and webinars on possible health and environmental effects of aerial-applied chemicals used to fight wildfires will be held in various locations around the country during the 45-day public comment period that ends June 27, 2011.

Is Corporate Ghostwriting of Journal Articles a Threat to Environmental Information?

March 9, 2011–Before picking up stories based on journals in the environmental sciences, reporters might pause to ask about those journals' policies on transparency and potential conflict of interest. And then ask about enforcement, and any relevant conflict declarations on the article in question.

Oil Fracking Poses Similar Concerns As Gas Fracking

March 2, 2011–EPA is conducting a study of fracking, no matter where it is used (e.g., gas shale, oil shale, coalbed methane, tight sands). Public comment is being allowed as the agency's Science Advisory Board meets March 7-8, 2011, to review the draft study plan. Initial study and research results are possible by the end of 2012, and a report may be published some time in 2014.

Food News Hooks: Safety, Healthfulness, Availability, Cost, and More

February 2, 2011–Much of your audience likely considers food a minor issue since they see it as generally available, affordable, healthy, environmentally benign, and unrelated to issues such as national security. You can help paint a more realistic picture for them, from the global to the local.

EPA Issues New Information on Old and New Fluorescent Light Bulbs

January 19, 2011–Some light bulbs require special handling to reduce toxic exposures. EPA's latest guidance for old fluorescent bulbs that contain PCBs and current generation CFLs that contain mercury both provide important fodder for consumer-awareness stories.