Publication Items

Will Your Town Pass the Electric School Bus Acid Test? [1]

A Biden-era plan to put billions into school buses, clean EV-style, could be in the rearview mirror under the Trump administration, reports the latest TipSheet. That’s despite the fume-free, greenhouse gas-scarce qualities that benefit the air and the climate, parents and kids. To get in the driver’s seat on this story, here are a half a dozen local story ideas, plus reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Climate Change [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Politics [6]
Government [7]
Health [8]
Infrastructure [9]
Journalism & Media [10]
Policy [11]
Pollution [12]
Technology [13]
Transportation [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about Will Your Town Pass the Electric School Bus Acid Test? [1]
Climate Solutions, for Some, May Not Be [17]

A small Louisiana community, home to the descendants of formerly enslaved Black people, continues to fight for its freedom many decades later, this time from a potentially polluting technology. FEJ StoryLog contributor Yessenia Funes recounts her journey to this Cancer Alley community, where a grant from the Fund for Environmental Journalism helped her tell the story of residents challenging a multibillion-dollar carbon capture plant.

SEJ Publication Types:
FEJ StoryLog [18]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [19]
Air [3]
Chemicals [20]
Climate Change [4]
Economy & Business [21]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Health [22]
Environmental Justice [23]
Environmental Politics [6]
Journalism & Media [10]
People & Population [24]
Planning & Growth [25]
Policy [11]
Pollution [12]
Science [26]
Technology [13]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [27]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about Climate Solutions, for Some, May Not Be [17]
‘People Will Die’ — Stories Behind Trump Budget Bill [28]

The Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” is anything but, especially in its unraveling of efforts to weave environmental and climate justice into American society, argues the new Voices of Environmental Justice. In her latest column, writer Yessenia Funes calls on journalists to report its ramifications not just for the planet but for the most vulnerable people living on it. Here are key stories to start with.

SEJ Publication Types:
Voices of Environmental Justice [29]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [19]
Air [3]
Chemicals [20]
Climate Change [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Health [22]
Environmental Justice [23]
Environmental Politics [6]
Government [7]
Health [8]
Infrastructure [9]
Journalism & Media [10]
Laws & Regulations [30]
People & Population [24]
Policy [11]
Pollution [12]
Waste [31]
Water & Oceans [32]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Alaska and Hawaii [33]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [27]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about ‘People Will Die’ — Stories Behind Trump Budget Bill [28]
Lapses in Enforcement by Trump's EPA May Yield Local Environment Stories [34]

Enforcement has usually been serious business at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Now it seems many pollution laws are going unpoliced. TipSheet explains how the EPA’s own resources can help investigative reporters find violations, track regulatory actions and uncover nationwide patterns of corporate mismanagement.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Chemicals [20]
Economy & Business [21]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Health [22]
Environmental Justice [23]
Environmental Politics [6]
Government [7]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [10]
Laws & Regulations [30]
Pollution [12]
Waste [31]
Water & Oceans [32]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about Lapses in Enforcement by Trump's EPA May Yield Local Environment Stories [34]
NASA Portal Can Lead Reporters to Universe of Data [35]

For environmental journalists looking for data riches to help tell their stories — whether about urban heat islands, sea-surface temperatures or air pollution — NASA has the satellites whose sensors capture insights galore. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox offers an introduction to the U.S. space agency’s incredibly extensive data portal, and how to get started amid the wealth of information (caveat: before it’s gone).

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [36]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Climate Change [4]
Environmental Health [22]
Environmental Studies [37]
Forests [38]
Government [7]
Journalism & Media [10]
Science [26]
Technology [13]
Water & Oceans [32]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
International [39]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about NASA Portal Can Lead Reporters to Universe of Data [35]
Battle Over Gas Power Facility Generates Months-Long Investigation [40]

A private social media message piqued Arizona Republic reporter Joan Meiners’ interest in rural retirees’ efforts to block construction of a gas-fired peaker plant next to their homes. Her year-long, grant-funded investigation in 2024 uncovered questionable local government actions and utility executive motives, and concluded with action against the facility. Read Meiners’ account of how rural Arizonans became unlikely climate activists, in the latest FEJ Storylog.

SEJ Publication Types:
FEJ StoryLog [18]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [19]
Air [3]
Consumer [41]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Politics [6]
Government [7]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [10]
People & Population [24]
Pollution [12]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [42]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about Battle Over Gas Power Facility Generates Months-Long Investigation [40]
Environmentalists Will Be Seeing Trump Forces in Court — Often [43]

The judiciary is looking to become a major environmental battleground for journalists to watch in the coming months and years, as activists confront the Trump administration over its deregulatory campaign. The new Issue Backgrounder maps out the action, explaining how key laws foster citizen suits, while numerous nonprofits are staffed up to sue. Plus, some ways to track the action.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [44]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [19]
Air [3]
Biodiversity [45]
Chemicals [20]
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [41]
Environmental Justice [23]
Environmental Politics [6]
Government [7]
Infrastructure [9]
Journalism & Media [10]
Laws & Regulations [30]
Natural Resources [46]
Policy [11]
Pollution [12]
Waste [31]
Water & Oceans [32]
Wildlife [47]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about Environmentalists Will Be Seeing Trump Forces in Court — Often [43]
Desperately Seeking Data? OECD Has Loads [48]

If the possibility of a politically driven dearth of data for your climate and environment reporting has you on edge, the new Reporter’s Toolbox just may have something to soothe your nerves: A data source from beyond the grasp of the Trump administration and outside the boundaries of the United States. Take a quick tour of environmental data from the OECD.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [36]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [49]
Air [3]
Biodiversity [45]
Chemicals [20]
Climate Change [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Studies [37]
Fish & Fisheries [50]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [10]
Natural Resources [46]
Pollution [12]
Transportation [14]
Waste [31]
Water & Oceans [32]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
International [39]
Europe [51]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about Desperately Seeking Data? OECD Has Loads [48]
New Angle for Reporting on Oil and Gas Industry — Radioactive Waste [52]

Industry experts and government regulators have long known that radionuclides reside in oil and natural gas. Yet radioactive emissions and waste continue to threaten the lives of workers and community members across the country. Investigative journalist Justin Nobel on the opportunities and urgent need for reporters to drill into a story steeped in questions of accountability, health and justice.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [53]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [19]
Air [3]
Chemicals [20]
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [41]
Economy & Business [21]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Health [22]
Environmental Politics [6]
Environmental Studies [37]
Government [7]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [10]
Laws & Regulations [30]
Natural Resources [46]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [54]
People & Population [24]
Policy [11]
Pollution [12]
Science [26]
Technology [13]
Waste [31]
Water & Oceans [32]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [55]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [56]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [57]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [58]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [59]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [27]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [42]
International [39]
Canada [60]
South America [61]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about New Angle for Reporting on Oil and Gas Industry — Radioactive Waste [52]
‘They’re Back’ — Veteran Journalists on Braving the Specter of Trump’s Return [62]

How can environmental reporters best cover the upheavals of a second Trump administration? SEJournal commissioned a special analysis to draw on the experience of reporters who were there to chronicle the first. Contributing editor Jennifer Weeks spoke to more than half a dozen news veterans of Trump’s earlier environmental and energy policy initiatives, with insights and tips on how to handle what’s ahead.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [53]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Chemicals [20]
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [63]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Justice [23]
Environmental Politics [6]
Government [7]
Journalism & Media [10]
Laws & Regulations [30]
Natural Resources [46]
Policy [11]
Pollution [12]
Water & Oceans [32]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about ‘They’re Back’ — Veteran Journalists on Braving the Specter of Trump’s Return [62]

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