Publication Items

Epic Struggles Ahead in 2023 on Energy Transition, Pollution [1]

In our annual analysis of what’s ahead on the environment beat in 2023, there are some things to count on: worsening climate disasters and continued politicking over energy transitions, but also regulatory action on greenhouse gas emissions (not to mention on “forever chemicals”). Other things are less clear: environmental rulings by a conservative U.S. Supreme Court, energy impacts of war in Europe and the effectiveness of COP28 and treaty talks on plastic pollution. Read the full overview and get more in our “2023 Journalists’ Guide to Energy & Environment [2]” special report.

SEJ Publication Types:
Special Reports [3]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [4]
Agriculture [5]
Air [6]
Biodiversity [7]
Chemicals [8]
Climate Change [9]
Disasters [10]
Economy & Business [11]
Energy & Fuel [12]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [14]
Fish & Fisheries [15]
Government [16]
Health [17]
Infrastructure [18]
Journalism & Media [19]
Laws & Regulations [20]
Military [21]
Natural Resources [22]
Planning & Growth [23]
Policy [24]
Pollution [25]
Science [26]
Waste [27]
Water & Oceans [28]
Region:
National (U.S.) [29]
International [30]
Europe [31]
Middle East [32]
Visibility:
Public [33]
- Read more about Epic Struggles Ahead in 2023 on Energy Transition, Pollution [1]
Cascadia Bioregion Rife With Energy, Environment Troubles To Report in 2023 [34]

Iconic critters like salmon, orca and wolves. Climate controversies like natural gas greenwashing and carbon auctions. And wildfire fallout like “smoke-a-geddon.” These are just some of the wide array of stories worth covering as environmental journalists scan Cascadia, the huge area encompassing Washington, Oregon and Idaho, and stretching from Alaska to Utah. This special TipSheet, part of our 2023 Journalists’ Guide to Energy & Environment, outlines top issues in the region, offering insights, resources and story angles.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [35]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [4]
Agriculture [5]
Air [6]
Biodiversity [7]
Climate Change [9]
Consumer [36]
Disasters [10]
Diversity [37]
Economy & Business [11]
Energy & Fuel [12]
Environmental Health [38]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [14]
Environmental Studies [39]
Fish & Fisheries [15]
Food [40]
Forests [41]
Government [16]
Health [17]
Infrastructure [18]
Journalism & Media [19]
Laws & Regulations [20]
Natural Resources [22]
Planning & Growth [23]
Policy [24]
Pollution [25]
Transportation [42]
Waste [27]
Water & Oceans [28]
Wildlife [43]
Region:
National (U.S.) [29]
Alaska and Hawaii [44]
California [45]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [46]
Northwest (OR WA) [47]
International [30]
Canada [48]
Visibility:
Public [33]
- Read more about Cascadia Bioregion Rife With Energy, Environment Troubles To Report in 2023 [34]
Winning Over Editors and Others with Award Winners’ Multimedia Nuggets [49]

If you’re looking to engage key constituencies for your journalism — whether editors, sources, students or people who have been marginalized — a new set of short videos from award-winning journalists (like KESQ's Angela Chen, at left) can serve as a helpful resource. Inside Story has a roadmap of how to make smart use of these video nuggets to, for instance, convince newsroom powerbrokers to give you more time and support for ambitious stories.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [50]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [5]
Air [6]
Biodiversity [7]
Chemicals [8]
Climate Change [9]
Diversity [37]
Environmental Health [38]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [14]
Government [16]
Health [17]
Journalism & Media [19]
Natural Resources [22]
Policy [24]
Pollution [25]
Science [26]
Water & Oceans [28]
Wildlife [43]
Region:
National (U.S.) [29]
California [45]
Northwest (OR WA) [47]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [51]
International [30]
Visibility:
Public [33]
- Read more about Winning Over Editors and Others with Award Winners’ Multimedia Nuggets [49]
Water-Sharing in the West: An Urgent and Complicated Environmental Story [52]

Water has always been a precious commodity in the western states. Now, with rapid population growth and a drying climate, the way this resource is shared and distributed is becoming more contentious across the region. Freelance journalist Jennifer Oldham talks about the tensions between supply and demand and how to drill down into water rights laws and policies.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [53]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [5]
Climate Change [9]
Consumer [36]
Economy & Business [11]
Environmental Health [38]
Environmental Politics [14]
Government [16]
Infrastructure [18]
Journalism & Media [19]
Laws & Regulations [20]
Natural Resources [22]
People & Population [54]
Planning & Growth [23]
Policy [24]
Technology [55]
Water & Oceans [28]
Region:
National (U.S.) [29]
California [45]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [46]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [56]
Visibility:
Public [33]
- Read more about Water-Sharing in the West: An Urgent and Complicated Environmental Story [52]
As Concern Over Methane Mounts, Emission Controls Yield Stories [57]

While carbon dioxide is the greenhouse gas most often in the news, methane has greater warming power and accounts for a big chunk of the current increase in global warming. Now, growing regulatory pressure may help shift that focus and could drive more local environmental reporting, per the latest TipSheet. The backstory, plus reporting ideas and resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [35]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [5]
Air [6]
Climate Change [9]
Energy & Fuel [12]
Environmental Health [38]
Environmental Politics [14]
Journalism & Media [19]
Laws & Regulations [20]
Natural Resources [22]
Policy [24]
Pollution [25]
Waste [27]
Region:
National (U.S.) [29]
International [30]
Visibility:
Public [33]
- Read more about As Concern Over Methane Mounts, Emission Controls Yield Stories [57]
Journalism Industry Program Supports Reporting on Workers — and Work — in a Warming World [58]

As the economic impacts of climate change intensify, reporting on how individuals are affected, particularly in the Global South, is lagging. Veteran journalist Christine Spolar at The Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting details a new initiative to encourage journalists to fill this gap. The story of recent grantees Bhasker Tripathi and Susan Schulman, who have tracked job losses and migrations tied to climate change in India and Iraq.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [53]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [4]
Agriculture [5]
Climate Change [9]
Disasters [10]
Economy & Business [11]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [14]
Food [40]
Government [16]
Health [17]
Journalism & Media [19]
People & Population [54]
Policy [24]
Technology [55]
Water & Oceans [28]
Region:
National (U.S.) [29]
International [30]
Africa [59]
Asia [60]
Middle East [32]
Visibility:
Public [33]
- Read more about Journalism Industry Program Supports Reporting on Workers — and Work — in a Warming World [58]
Reporting on Storm Chasing’s ‘Human Side’ Hints at Climate’s Future [61]

Writer Noah Gallagher Shannon followed scientists into the heart of the megastorms ravaging an agricultural region in Argentina, and in the process learned not just about their high-risk fieldwork and what these massive thunderstorms might tell us about the storms of the future in the United States, but also their impact on affected communities. Find out about his reporting experience in this Inside Story Q&A.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [50]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [5]
Climate Change [9]
Disasters [10]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Studies [39]
Journalism & Media [19]
People & Population [54]
Science [26]
Region:
International [30]
South America [62]
Visibility:
Public [33]
- Read more about Reporting on Storm Chasing’s ‘Human Side’ Hints at Climate’s Future [61]
Documentary Tells of Human, Environmental Toll of Unexploded Ordnance [63]

A film by reporting duo Jerry Redfern and Karen Coates — supported by a grant from the Society of Environmental Journalists — shows the ongoing human and environmental harm of the unexploded U.S. bombs and other ordnance dropped on Southeast Asian villages during the Vietnam War. “Eternal Harvest,” which builds on their earlier book on the topic, was made painstakingly over years, and in the latest FEJ StoryLog, the couple explains their process and storytelling approach.

SEJ Publication Types:
FEJ StoryLog [64]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [5]
Environmental Justice [13]
Health [17]
Journalism & Media [19]
Military [21]
People & Population [54]
Region:
International [30]
Asia [60]
Visibility:
Public [33]
- Read more about Documentary Tells of Human, Environmental Toll of Unexploded Ordnance [63]
ESA Inaction Spells Trouble for an Iconic Grassland Bird [65]

The lesser prairie-chicken is in dire need of protection, but a decision on listing it under the Endangered Species Act is months overdue. Environmental reporter Mike Smith looks at the causes and potential consequences of the bureaucratic delay and muses on whether this unique bird will go the way of its even more imperiled relative, the Attwater’s prairie-chicken [66].

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [53]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [4]
Agriculture [5]
Biodiversity [7]
Economy & Business [11]
Energy & Fuel [12]
Environmental Politics [14]
Government [16]
Laws & Regulations [20]
Natural Resources [22]
Policy [24]
Science [26]
Wildlife [43]
Region:
National (U.S.) [29]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [67]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [46]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [51]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [56]
Visibility:
Public [33]
- Read more about ESA Inaction Spells Trouble for an Iconic Grassland Bird [65]
How a Distant Chapter in Spice Trade Foretells Today’s Climate Chaos [68]

When Europeans colonized remote Indonesian islands centuries ago to dominate the trade in nutmeg and cloves, they were repeating a pattern of domination of peoples and nature that author Amitav Ghosh argues in his latest book has brought us to the present-day environmental crisis. BookShelf reviewer Melody Kemp offers praise for the book’s strong narrative qualities and incisive historical analysis.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [69]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [5]
Climate Change [9]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [14]
Food [40]
Natural Resources [22]
People & Population [54]
Policy [24]
Region:
International [30]
Asia [60]
Visibility:
Public [33]
- Read more about How a Distant Chapter in Spice Trade Foretells Today’s Climate Chaos [68]

Pages