Publication Items

Floods, Fires, Dysfunction — Another Year Ahead of Faltering Steps on Environment, Energy [1]

In our annual look-ahead on the environment and energy beat in 2024, we see a bumpy ride on global climate change talks coupled with more climate-driven disasters, even amid the evolving energy transition. And we see possible risks to ocean life from deep sea mining and continuing risks to human life from pollution of air, water and land. Insights in our overview [1] and our full “2024 Journalists’ Guide to Environment & Energy [2]” special report.

SEJ Publication Types:
Special Reports [3]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [4]
Biodiversity [5]
Chemicals [6]
Climate Change [7]
Disasters [8]
Economy & Business [9]
Energy & Fuel [10]
Environmental Health [11]
Environmental Justice [12]
Environmental Politics [13]
Forests [14]
Government [15]
Health [16]
Infrastructure [17]
Laws & Regulations [18]
Natural Resources [19]
Policy [20]
Pollution [21]
Transportation [22]
Waste [23]
Water & Oceans [24]
Region:
National (U.S.) [25]
International [26]
Visibility:
Public [27]
- Read more about Floods, Fires, Dysfunction — Another Year Ahead of Faltering Steps on Environment, Energy [1]
Prying Open the Statehouse Doors [28]

Reporting on environmental stories often leads to the state legislature, where key material can be frustratingly hard to access. Whether that’s because the state is deliberately hiding information, has poor systems for sharing it or isn’t even tracking it, there are ways to get what you need. Four seasoned environment reporters offer tips, tricks and commiseration.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [29]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [4]
Economy & Business [9]
Energy & Fuel [10]
Government [15]
Infrastructure [17]
Journalism & Media [30]
Laws & Regulations [18]
Natural Resources [19]
Policy [20]
Water & Oceans [24]
Region:
National (U.S.) [25]
California [31]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [32]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [33]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [34]
Visibility:
Public [27]
- Read more about Prying Open the Statehouse Doors [28]
Here’s Your Handy Doomsday Dataviz Dashboard [35]

If you’re harboring serious doubts about the climate future but want to be prepared to cover it, the latest Reporter’s Toolbox offers up a seasonably ghoulish list of a dozen and a half great visualization sources to help tell the story. And lest it leave you spooked, remember, as the saying goes, everything will be OK in the end. And if it's not OK, it's not the end.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [36]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [4]
Climate Change [7]
Disasters [8]
Environmental Health [11]
Health [16]
Journalism & Media [30]
Water & Oceans [24]
Region:
National (U.S.) [25]
International [26]
Visibility:
Public [27]
- Read more about Here’s Your Handy Doomsday Dataviz Dashboard [35]
Top Data Sources Can Help Cover the Larger Wildfire Story [37]

In the aftermath of breaking wildfire news, when environmental journalists are looking to tell the bigger picture story, there are myriad resources that provide data and insight. To help you sort through it all, the latest Reporter’s Toolbox scans eight powerful data portals that provide everything from real-time tracking and satellite data to risk analysis and health impacts.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [36]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [4]
Climate Change [7]
Disasters [8]
Environmental Health [11]
Forests [14]
Government [15]
Health [16]
Journalism & Media [30]
Region:
National (U.S.) [25]
Visibility:
Public [27]
- Read more about Top Data Sources Can Help Cover the Larger Wildfire Story [37]
Waste Incineration May Put Toxics Into Local Air [38]

Sometimes on the environment beat, what seems like an old story is perpetually new again. That’s the case with waste incineration, finds the latest TipSheet. Rather than being reduced, incinerators are just being transformed, with the ongoing burning of plastics especially troubling for the environment and public health. Get the backstory on where the regulatory regime may have holes, plus key reporting angles and story ideas.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [39]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [40]
Air [4]
Chemicals [6]
Energy & Fuel [10]
Environmental Health [11]
Environmental Justice [12]
Environmental Politics [13]
Health [16]
Journalism & Media [30]
Laws & Regulations [18]
Pollution [21]
Waste [23]
Region:
National (U.S.) [25]
Visibility:
Public [27]
- Read more about Waste Incineration May Put Toxics Into Local Air [38]
Asthma Data — A Starting Point for Key Environment-Health Stories [41]

Whether marginalized communities suffering from asthma or cities cloaked in smoke from far-away wildfires, journalists looking to connect public health and environmental concerns around air pollution will find much of the data they need via the Centers for Disease Control’s asthma surveillance data. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox outlines the source and smart ways to use it.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [36]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [4]
Climate Change [7]
Environmental Justice [12]
Health [16]
Journalism & Media [30]
Pollution [21]
Region:
National (U.S.) [25]
Visibility:
Public [27]
- Read more about Asthma Data — A Starting Point for Key Environment-Health Stories [41]
Expert Advice Helps Journalists Navigate Unfamiliar Scientific Seas [42]

Journalists who lack a strong science background can find themselves in deep water when reporting environmental stories. How do you avoid over- or understating research findings? What’s the difference between observational and experimental studies? And what about those pesky percentages? Former Washington Post science reporter Rick Weiss and his SciLine colleagues have some answers.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [29]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [43]
Air [4]
Climate Change [7]
Environmental Health [11]
Environmental Studies [44]
Journalism & Media [30]
Pollution [21]
Science [45]
Wildlife [46]
Region:
National (U.S.) [25]
International [26]
Visibility:
Public [27]
- Read more about Expert Advice Helps Journalists Navigate Unfamiliar Scientific Seas [42]
‘Orange’ Is the New Data — for Wildfire Smoke [47]

The U.S. air quality alert scale is showing a lot of unhealthy colors this season, from oranges up to unhealthy reds and purples or worse, as smoke from wildfires in Canada periodically drifts across various U.S. regions. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox explores a key database and other resources to help journalists report on the spread of smoky air.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [36]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [4]
Health [16]
Journalism & Media [30]
Pollution [21]
Region:
National (U.S.) [25]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [48]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [33]
International [26]
Canada [49]
Visibility:
Public [27]
- Read more about ‘Orange’ Is the New Data — for Wildfire Smoke [47]
Wildfire Smoke — Now a Local Story in Unaccustomed Places [50]

The harms of air pollutants created by wildfires are clear. What’s lost in the haze, though, is that wildfire smoke can carry those pollutants vast distances, threatening communities that are unfamiliar with the risks. The latest TipSheet explains the dangers and how far-flung wildfire smoke travels, then offers a dozen story ideas plus reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [39]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [4]
Chemicals [6]
Climate Change [7]
Disasters [8]
Forests [14]
Health [16]
Journalism & Media [30]
Pollution [21]
Region:
National (U.S.) [25]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [33]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [51]
International [26]
Canada [49]
Visibility:
Public [27]
- Read more about Wildfire Smoke — Now a Local Story in Unaccustomed Places [50]
Watching the Watchers: How Journalistic Teamwork Uncovered Years of Regulatory Failure in Texas [52]

After a massive fire at a Texas petrochemical storage facility, reporters from Public Health Watch and The Texas Tribune worked together to shed light on who was responsible for this disaster and what health threats had been hidden from the public. This behind-the-scenes report from Public Health Watch’s David Leffler and Savanna Strott looks at the challenges the team faced and how they overcame them.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [29]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [4]
Chemicals [6]
Disasters [8]
Economy & Business [9]
Energy & Fuel [10]
Environmental Health [11]
Environmental Justice [12]
Environmental Politics [13]
Government [15]
Health [16]
Journalism & Media [30]
Laws & Regulations [18]
Pollution [21]
Region:
National (U.S.) [25]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [34]
Visibility:
Public [27]
- Read more about Watching the Watchers: How Journalistic Teamwork Uncovered Years of Regulatory Failure in Texas [52]

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