"The White House is working to assemble a panel to assess whether climate change poses a national security threat, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post, a conclusion that federal intelligence agencies have affirmed several times since President Trump took office."
"The Supreme Court is taking up another far-reaching debate over the scope of the Clean Water Act."
Even as traditional journalism jobs are in decline, innovative educators are finding ways to fill seats in journalism courses. EJ Academy editor Robert Wyss unpacks a recent study that examines the challenges of environmental journalism education and explores how journalism instructors must stretch to focus on preserving the “functions of journalism.” Find out more in our latest EJ Academy column.
A rare bipartisan package of public lands measures now moving through Congress is big national news and will yield numerous regional and local stories. The bill permanently authorizes a major conservation fund, expands parks, designates wilderness areas, bars some mining, protects bird species and more. This week’s TipSheet explores why the lands bill matters so much, tracks the legislation’s likely passage and helps you prep your coverage with story ideas and more than half a dozen reporting resources.
"Biologists are searching caves and abandoned mines in the West, hoping to spare many species of the winged creatures from the devastating fungus, white-nose syndrome."
"Sea level rise is eating into the revenue of this quaint coastal business district. An innovative new study estimates the economic costs."
"The Trump administration's stated goal for a rule defining which wetlands and waterways get Clean Water Act protection: Write a simple regulation that landowners can understand. ... But scientists who specialize in the study of wetlands and waterways say it's not that simple."
"Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) declared Monday that if elected president in 2020 she would immediately move to reinstate federal protections for the environment and work to tackle climate change in her first 100 days."
"A federal advisory panel that's supposed to provide scientific information to the National Flood Insurance Program is entering a five-month work stoppage, even as property losses mount against the backdrop of severe inundation related to climate change."
"President Trump on Friday nominated Jeffrey Byard to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after the previous administrator Brock Long resigned this week."
