Publication Items

EPA Moves To Eliminate Asbestos Risk to Human Health, But Its Legacy Remains [1]

A new ban is to be imposed on the last kind of asbestos still imported into the United States for use in commerce. But as the Issue Backgrounder explains, the regulatory back-and-forth over the substance by recent administrations won’t alleviate the biggest U.S. problem, which is the long history of its use in a wide range of building materials and other uses raising ongoing occupational risks.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Consumer [4]
Environmental Politics [5]
Government [6]
Health [7]
Infrastructure [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Policy [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about EPA Moves To Eliminate Asbestos Risk to Human Health, But Its Legacy Remains [1]
Now Maskless, What Are Schools Doing in the COVID-19 Era About Clean Indoor Air? [14]

As schools (and many other institutions) around the United States relax mask mandates, questions remain about how they will keep indoor air clean and safe. The latest TipSheet takes a look at the often-underestimated risks of indoor air pollution, as well as well-known practices to clean it up. Get story ideas and resources for reporting on schools in your community.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [15]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Disasters [16]
Environmental Health [17]
Environmental Politics [5]
Health [7]
Infrastructure [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Pollution [18]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Now Maskless, What Are Schools Doing in the COVID-19 Era About Clean Indoor Air? [14]
Houston Plays Host to First On-Site SEJ Conference Since 2019 [19]

Environmental journalists from around the country and beyond will gather in Houston later this month for the Society of Environmental Journalists’ 31st annual conference. Widely known as the energy capital of the world, this highly diverse city is an ideal place to drill down on the causes and consequences of climate change and other environmental issues of the day.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [20]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [21]
Air [3]
Biodiversity [22]
Chemicals [23]
Climate Change [24]
Disasters [16]
Diversity [25]
Economy & Business [26]
Energy & Fuel [27]
Environmental Health [17]
Environmental Justice [28]
Environmental Politics [5]
Fish & Fisheries [29]
Food [30]
Forests [31]
Government [6]
Health [7]
Infrastructure [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
People & Population [32]
Planning & Growth [33]
Policy [11]
Pollution [18]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [34]
Science [35]
Technology [36]
Transportation [37]
Waste [38]
Water & Oceans [39]
Wildlife [40]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [41]
International [42]
Mexico [43]
Central America & the Caribbean [44]
Europe [45]
South America [46]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Houston Plays Host to First On-Site SEJ Conference Since 2019 [19]
Deep in the Heart of Complexity … Or, the View From Texas [47]

As the Society of Environmental Journalists prepares for its annual conference in Houston this March, the SEJournal asked Texas-based reporter Greg Harman to explore the Lone Star State's most critical stories for 2022. Here, in this special Texas-focused TipSheet, are leads, resources, encouragements and challenges.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [15]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [21]
Air [3]
Chemicals [23]
Climate Change [24]
Disasters [16]
Economy & Business [26]
Energy & Fuel [27]
Environmental Justice [28]
Environmental Politics [5]
Government [6]
Health [7]
Infrastructure [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
People & Population [32]
Planning & Growth [33]
Policy [11]
Pollution [18]
Wildlife [40]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [41]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Deep in the Heart of Complexity … Or, the View From Texas [47]
When Reporting on Toxic Hotspots, Go Deeper With Cancer Registries [48]

As awareness grows about how pollution can cause certain cancers, it’s smart to look beyond cancer risk and also explore available information about actual cancer cases. Reporter’s Toolbox explains how extensive data collected regularly in state-level cancer “registries” can take your coverage on the pollution-public health connection to another level. Plus, avoiding pitfalls in reporting possible clusters.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [49]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Chemicals [23]
Disasters [16]
Environmental Health [17]
Environmental Justice [28]
Environmental Politics [5]
Environmental Studies [50]
Government [6]
Health [7]
Journalism & Media [9]
People & Population [32]
Pollution [18]
Science [35]
Waste [38]
Water & Oceans [39]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [51]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [52]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about When Reporting on Toxic Hotspots, Go Deeper With Cancer Registries [48]
Biden Administration To Struggle With Environmental Justice in 2022 [53]

The history of environmental racism is a long one in the United States, far longer than the efforts to address the problem. But reporting on environmental justice continues to tick upwards, and an analysis in the latest Backgrounder points to promising progress, explaining why for journalists the year ahead may yield important stories, whether about future footholds or new missteps.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [21]
Air [3]
Climate Change [24]
Diversity [25]
Environmental Justice [28]
Environmental Politics [5]
Government [6]
Health [7]
Infrastructure [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
People & Population [32]
Planning & Growth [33]
Policy [11]
Pollution [18]
Waste [38]
Water & Oceans [39]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [54]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [55]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [56]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [51]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [52]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [41]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Biden Administration To Struggle With Environmental Justice in 2022 [53]
Mapping Toxic U.S. Hotspots Down to the Neighborhood Level [57]

A new project on toxic risks has yielded a tool making it far easier to use data from the Toxics Release Inventory to report on hotspots. Reporter’s Toolbox offers a guide to ProPublica’s impressive “Sacrifice Zones” special report, which maps cancer-causing industrial air pollution. Plus, join an in-depth virtual tutorial [58] on the ProPublica tool co-sponsored by the Society of Environmental Journalists.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [49]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Chemicals [23]
Environmental Justice [28]
Government [6]
Health [7]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
People & Population [32]
Pollution [18]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Mapping Toxic U.S. Hotspots Down to the Neighborhood Level [57]
Will 2022 See the Start of Formal Negotiations Toward a Global Plastics Treaty? [59]

Plastic waste, already the subject of preliminary international talks, could be increasingly targeted after UN meetings in early 2022. Meanwhile, this ubiquitous product is polluting land, ocean and air in its various forms, as well as through little-understood microplastic particles. The latest TipSheet has the backstory on efforts to forge an international plastics treaty, as well as ideas for how to cover plastic pollution locally.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [15]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [21]
Air [3]
Chemicals [23]
Climate Change [24]
Consumer [4]
Economy & Business [26]
Environmental Health [17]
Environmental Politics [5]
Fish & Fisheries [29]
Food [30]
Government [6]
Health [7]
Journalism & Media [9]
Policy [11]
Pollution [18]
Waste [38]
Water & Oceans [39]
Wildlife [40]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
International [42]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Will 2022 See the Start of Formal Negotiations Toward a Global Plastics Treaty? [59]
Two Communities, Two Hazards and the Two Award-Winners Reporting Them [60]

Two outstanding features — one on air pollution from a local coke plant in Pennsylvania, another on deaths from a shellfish toxin in Alaska, and both focused on public health, neglected communities and environmental justice — are the subject of the new Inside Story Q&A. Society of Environmental Journalists’ award-winners Nancy Averett and Zoya Teirstein share their reporting insights and advice.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [61]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Climate Change [24]
Diversity [25]
Energy & Fuel [27]
Environmental Health [17]
Environmental Justice [28]
Environmental Studies [50]
Fish & Fisheries [29]
Food [30]
Health [7]
Journalism & Media [9]
People & Population [32]
Pollution [18]
Science [35]
Water & Oceans [39]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Alaska and Hawaii [62]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [63]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Two Communities, Two Hazards and the Two Award-Winners Reporting Them [60]
The 9/11 Legacy — Fear Drew Curtain Over Environmental Information [64]

Twenty years after the attacks on 9/11, the war on terror has left many risks in the built environment under a cloak of secrecy. For WatchDog Opinion, keeping vital information about such preventable hazards under wraps from the public and journalists is not just wrong, but bad policy. Here’s why. Plus, a rundown for environment reporters of where exactly this secrecy reigns.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [65]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [21]
Agriculture [66]
Air [3]
Chemicals [23]
Disasters [16]
Economy & Business [26]
Energy & Fuel [27]
Environmental Politics [5]
Food [30]
Government [6]
Health [7]
Infrastructure [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [67]
People & Population [32]
Policy [11]
Transportation [37]
Waste [38]
Water & Oceans [39]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
California [68]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [41]
International [42]
Africa [69]
Asia [70]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about The 9/11 Legacy — Fear Drew Curtain Over Environmental Information [64]

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