Publication Items

COP30 — Why It Won’t Save the Planet [1]

Just under two months from the start of the annual global forum for managing climate change — the United Nations’ conference of parties beginning Nov. 10 in Belém, Brazil — our Backgrounder analysis laments the vanishingly small chance that nations will agree on managing steadily rising greenhouse gas emissions. A look at the obstacles, plus COP30 reporting challenges, from hotel expenses to diplomatic spin.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Environmental Justice [5]
Environmental Politics [6]
Government [7]
Journalism & Media [8]
Policy [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
International [11]
South America [12]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about COP30 — Why It Won’t Save the Planet [1]
Trump Climate Science Denial Hinges on … Not Saying the Word [14]

A war on the facts behind climate change — and on the actions to address it — is well underway in the second Trump administration. The new WatchDog Opinion column takes the measure of the battlefront, eyeing key examples of the political onslaught, including a concerted effort to eradicate the very term itself. Regulations killed, research discredited, speech censored and more.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [15]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Environmental Justice [5]
Environmental Politics [6]
Environmental Studies [16]
Government [7]
Journalism & Media [8]
Laws & Regulations [17]
Planning & Growth [18]
Policy [9]
Science [19]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Trump Climate Science Denial Hinges on … Not Saying the Word [14]
‘People Will Die’ — Stories Behind Trump Budget Bill [20]

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 [21]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [22]
Air [23]
Chemicals [24]
Climate Change [3]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Environmental Health [25]
Environmental Justice [5]
Environmental Politics [6]
Government [7]
Health [26]
Infrastructure [27]
Journalism & Media [8]
Laws & Regulations [17]
People & Population [28]
Policy [9]
Pollution [29]
Waste [30]
Water & Oceans [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Alaska and Hawaii [32]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [33]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about ‘People Will Die’ — Stories Behind Trump Budget Bill [20]
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 [35]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [23]
Chemicals [24]
Economy & Business [36]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Environmental Health [25]
Environmental Justice [5]
Environmental Politics [6]
Government [7]
Health [26]
Journalism & Media [8]
Laws & Regulations [17]
Pollution [29]
Waste [30]
Water & Oceans [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Lapses in Enforcement by Trump's EPA May Yield Local Environment Stories [34]
Battle Over Gas Power Facility Generates Months-Long Investigation [37]

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 [38]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [22]
Air [23]
Consumer [39]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Environmental Politics [6]
Government [7]
Health [26]
Journalism & Media [8]
People & Population [28]
Pollution [29]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [40]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Battle Over Gas Power Facility Generates Months-Long Investigation [37]
Trump Tariffs Blow Up Long U.S.-Canada Environmental Partnership [41]

As trade wars loom with U.S. allies, including our neighbors to the north and south, another kind of long-standing relationship is under threat — the environmental partnership between the United States and Canada. A Backgrounder Analysis examines deep-rooted ties over energy, water and timber. Does the brewing conflict over trade mean the long bonds over the environment have been broken?

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Consumer [39]
Economy & Business [36]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Environmental Health [25]
Environmental Politics [6]
Fish & Fisheries [42]
Forests [43]
Government [7]
Laws & Regulations [17]
Natural Resources [44]
Policy [9]
Water & Oceans [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [45]
Northwest (OR WA) [46]
International [11]
Canada [47]
Mexico [48]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Trump Tariffs Blow Up Long U.S.-Canada Environmental Partnership [41]
#SEJ2025 — Confronting the Past, Surviving the Future [49]

Next week, hundreds of environmental journalists are expected to gather in Arizona for #SEJ2025, the Society of Environmental Journalists’ expansive annual conference. Co-chair Kendal Blust has highlights of the four-day event, plus how the challenges facing the Southwest are those of communities across the United States, and why now is a critical time for journalists to come together. Read her rundown [49] and register now [50], before the April 16 midnight deadline.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [51]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [52]
Biodiversity [53]
Climate Change [3]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Environmental Health [25]
Environmental Justice [5]
Environmental Politics [6]
Fish & Fisheries [42]
Food [54]
Government [7]
Health [26]
Journalism & Media [8]
Natural Resources [44]
People & Population [28]
Planning & Growth [18]
Policy [9]
Pollution [29]
Science [19]
Water & Oceans [31]
Wildlife [55]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [40]
International [11]
Mexico [48]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about #SEJ2025 — Confronting the Past, Surviving the Future [49]
U.S. Fuel Exports To Profit Industry, Slam Consumers [56]

‘Energy dominance’ is a Trump catchphrase whose meaning may be vague — since the U.S. is already the world’s top producer of oil and natural gas. But one thing that does seem clear, per the new Backgrounder, is that a flood of new U.S. permits to export gas will likely mean higher energy prices for U.S. customers.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Consumer [39]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Environmental Politics [6]
Policy [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
International [11]
Canada [47]
Mexico [48]
Europe [57]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about U.S. Fuel Exports To Profit Industry, Slam Consumers [56]
Follow the Money … for Lobbying State Legislatures [58]

With many states dominated by a few powerful industries — whether oil, mining or agriculture — the influence of campaign dollars can have an outsize effect on legislation, even to the point of corruption, notes the latest Reporter’s Toolbox. So while the U.S. Congress may be languishing, environmental journalists can dig up stories on lobbying at the state level using a powerful data source.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [59]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [22]
Agriculture [52]
Economy & Business [36]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Environmental Politics [6]
Government [7]
Journalism & Media [8]
Laws & Regulations [17]
Policy [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [60]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [61]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [40]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Follow the Money … for Lobbying State Legislatures [58]
Desperately Seeking Data? OECD Has Loads [62]

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 [59]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [52]
Air [23]
Biodiversity [53]
Chemicals [24]
Climate Change [3]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Environmental Studies [16]
Fish & Fisheries [42]
Health [26]
Journalism & Media [8]
Natural Resources [44]
Pollution [29]
Transportation [63]
Waste [30]
Water & Oceans [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
International [11]
Europe [57]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Desperately Seeking Data? OECD Has Loads [62]

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