Publication Items

Clearing the Smoke — Collaboration Exposes Impacts of Wildfire Pollution-Reporting Rules [1]

Climate change is fueling the frequency and severity of wildfires, but a little-known Clean Air Act rule lets environmental agencies downplay the impacts of wildfire smoke. A collaborative investigation into this loophole connected dots that even the experts didn’t know about. Journalists Dillon Bergin and Molly Peterson explain their reporting process and offer advice for following your own local leads.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [5]
Environmental Health [6]
Government [7]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Pollution [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Alaska and Hawaii [13]
California [14]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [15]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [16]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [17]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [18]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [19]
Northwest (OR WA) [20]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [21]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [22]
Visibility:
Public [23]
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Capturing the Invisible — Photographing Extreme Heat Waves [24]

If extreme heat seems an unusual subject for December, the new EJ InSight column reminds us that among the natural disasters sweeping 2023 were waves of devastating global highs. Yet telling that story visually is an enormous challenge, acknowledges former LA Times photo editor Silvia Rázgová, who shares insights into how to portray the seriousness of extreme heat, getting beyond the cliches and connecting (safely) with its dangerous reality.

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ InSight [25]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [5]
Environmental Justice [26]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
California [14]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [21]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [22]
Visibility:
Public [23]
- Read more about Capturing the Invisible — Photographing Extreme Heat Waves [24]
Between the Lines — Author Explores Experience of Living Through Climate Change [27]

To make climate change less abstract and more direct, writer Madeline Ostrander traveled the country to speak to those living with its impacts in the places they call home. In a BookShelf “Between the Lines” Q&A, Ostrander discusses her resulting book, “At Home on an Unruly Planet: Finding Refuge on a Changed Earth,” and addresses the lenses she used, the characters she portrayed and the surprises she encountered.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [28]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [29]
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [5]
Economy & Business [30]
Environmental Justice [26]
Environmental Politics [31]
Forests [32]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
People & Population [33]
Policy [34]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [35]
Science [36]
Wildlife [37]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Alaska and Hawaii [13]
California [14]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [21]
International [38]
Canada [39]
Visibility:
Public [23]
- Read more about Between the Lines — Author Explores Experience of Living Through Climate Change [27]
Gathering Offers Sobering Look Ahead at 2024, But With Glimmers of Hope [40]

Top environmental journalists and others at the Society of Environmental Journalists annual “Journalists’ Guide to Environment and Energy” program foresee some challenging realities to cover in 2024, most notably with the ongoing impacts of climate change. Bright signs emerged as well. Read our take, watch the event video [41] and visit our full “2024 Journalists’ Guide to Environment + Energy [42]” special report.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [43]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Biodiversity [44]
Chemicals [45]
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [5]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Justice [26]
Environmental Politics [31]
Fish & Fisheries [46]
Forests [32]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Natural Resources [47]
People & Population [33]
Policy [34]
Pollution [11]
Water & Oceans [48]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Alaska and Hawaii [13]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [21]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [22]
International [38]
South America [49]
Visibility:
Public [23]
- Read more about Gathering Offers Sobering Look Ahead at 2024, But With Glimmers of Hope [40]
Floods, Fires, Dysfunction — Another Year Ahead of Faltering Steps on Environment, Energy [50]

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 [50] and our full “2024 Journalists’ Guide to Environment & Energy [42]” special report.

SEJ Publication Types:
Special Reports [51]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Biodiversity [44]
Chemicals [45]
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [5]
Economy & Business [30]
Energy & Fuel [52]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Justice [26]
Environmental Politics [31]
Forests [32]
Government [7]
Health [8]
Infrastructure [53]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Natural Resources [47]
Policy [34]
Pollution [11]
Transportation [54]
Waste [55]
Water & Oceans [48]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
International [38]
Visibility:
Public [23]
- Read more about Floods, Fires, Dysfunction — Another Year Ahead of Faltering Steps on Environment, Energy [50]
Do Home Buyers Have a Right to Flood Risk Disclosure? [56]

In the second of a two-parter for our 2024 Journalists’ Guide to Environment + Energy [42], the latest TipSheet considers how local environmental journalists can make news out of the state-by-state patchwork of flood risk disclosure laws amid rising climate extremes. A dozen-and-a-half story ideas and reporting resources on the topic. Plus, see part one [57] on climate and insurance.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [58]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [59]
Disasters [5]
Government [7]
Infrastructure [53]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Planning & Growth [60]
Policy [34]
Water & Oceans [48]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Visibility:
Public [23]
- Read more about Do Home Buyers Have a Right to Flood Risk Disclosure? [56]
Here’s Your Handy Doomsday Dataviz Dashboard [61]

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 [62]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [5]
Environmental Health [6]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Water & Oceans [48]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
International [38]
Visibility:
Public [23]
- Read more about Here’s Your Handy Doomsday Dataviz Dashboard [61]
Home Insurance Likely To Be a 2024 Climate Story Near You [57]

In the first of a two-parter for our 2024 Journalists’ Guide to Environment & Energy, TipSheet looks at what climate-driven disasters mean for the home insurance market. Storms, floods and fire rip through communities, yet a federal insurance program falls short, lawmakers shy away from real reform and insurers grow hesitant to cover the risks, while homeowners often attempt to rebuild in the same problematic locales. Plus, see part two [56] on extreme weather and insurance.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [58]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [59]
Disasters [5]
Economy & Business [30]
Environmental Politics [31]
Government [7]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
People & Population [33]
Planning & Growth [60]
Policy [34]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
California [14]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [19]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [21]
Visibility:
Public [23]
- Read more about Home Insurance Likely To Be a 2024 Climate Story Near You [57]
Unique Podcast Team Gives Voice to Troubled Communities Near Declining Salton Sea [63]

In the Coachella Valley east of Los Angeles, the massive Salton Sea is rapidly drying up, threatening vulnerable immigrant communities in a growing toxic environment. The Living Downstream podcast reported extensively on these hazards, winning third place in the Society of Environmental Journalists’ Awards for Reporting on the Environment’s explanatory reporting, small, category, in 2022. Inside Story spoke with one of the prizewinners.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [64]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [29]
Agriculture [65]
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [5]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Justice [26]
Environmental Politics [31]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Natural Resources [47]
People & Population [33]
Water & Oceans [48]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
California [14]
Visibility:
Public [23]
- Read more about Unique Podcast Team Gives Voice to Troubled Communities Near Declining Salton Sea [63]
Funding To Replace Lead Pipes Is Just the Start of the Story [66]

Billions of dollars in federal funding to get rid of lead pipes is only the beginning — now the pipes have to be located, removed and replaced. And the latest TipSheet says that’s a story that’s found in many U.S. communities, so is ripe for local reporting. Here’s the backstory and why it matters, along with more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [58]
Topics on the Beat:
Consumer [59]
Disasters [5]
Environmental Justice [26]
Environmental Studies [67]
Government [7]
Health [8]
Infrastructure [53]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Pollution [11]
Water & Oceans [48]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [15]
Visibility:
Public [23]
- Read more about Funding To Replace Lead Pipes Is Just the Start of the Story [66]

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