Publication Items

Covering New IPCC Reports Helps Explain Gravity of Climate Crisis [1]

A new science assessment released this week pinpoints more global warming risks, but also represents reporting challenges to environmental journalists working to cover climate change. Veteran climate journalist Bob Berwyn has the latest news from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and advice for reporters working the climate beat. Plus, links to other climate change reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [3]
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [5]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Environmental Health [7]
Environmental Justice [8]
Environmental Politics [9]
Environmental Studies [10]
Forests [11]
Government [12]
Health [13]
Journalism & Media [14]
Laws & Regulations [15]
Planning & Growth [16]
Policy [17]
Science [18]
Transportation [19]
Water & Oceans [20]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
International [22]
Visibility:
Public [23]
- Read more about Covering New IPCC Reports Helps Explain Gravity of Climate Crisis [1]
Solar Panel Stories Can Shine for Local, Regional Reporters [24]

As the solar panel business resurges, the wide scope of possible regional and local story angles — climate, tech, consumer, business, jobs, air quality and grid reliability — make bright prospects for journalists. The latest TipSheet sets out recent political and market developments, along with more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [25]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [26]
Economy & Business [27]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Environmental Politics [9]
Government [12]
Infrastructure [28]
Journalism & Media [14]
Natural Resources [29]
Policy [17]
Technology [30]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
International [22]
Asia [31]
Visibility:
Public [23]
- Read more about Solar Panel Stories Can Shine for Local, Regional Reporters [24]
Drilling for Data on Offshore Wells [32]

For reporters covering the long-standing conflict over offshore drilling, which erupted again this month after a federal judge blocked a halt to new leases, an Interior Department database offers a wealth of data about offshore wells. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox walks you through the maze of bureaucracy behind the database, and then provides detailed guidance on how to make the most of its info.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [33]
Topics on the Beat:
Economy & Business [27]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Environmental Health [7]
Environmental Politics [9]
Government [12]
Journalism & Media [14]
Natural Resources [29]
Policy [17]
Water & Oceans [20]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
Alaska and Hawaii [34]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [35]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [36]
Visibility:
Public [23]
- Read more about Drilling for Data on Offshore Wells [32]
Boom and Bust — Two Books Explore Working-Class Communities in the Clean Energy Transition [37]

For a clean energy transition to succeed, it almost certainly will have to bring along displaced workers and communities. To help journalists understand the challenges underlying that shift, BookShelf’s Jenny Weeks reviews two volumes. The first is a new memoir of working in North Dakota’s booming Bakken oil fields, the second an earlier account of decline in a working-class community in Oregon.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [38]
Topics on the Beat:
Economy & Business [27]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Environmental Justice [8]
Environmental Politics [9]
Health [13]
People & Population [39]
Policy [17]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [40]
Northwest (OR WA) [41]
Visibility:
Public [23]
- Read more about Boom and Bust — Two Books Explore Working-Class Communities in the Clean Energy Transition [37]
Is Investor Activism Really Greening Corporate Policy? [42]

Corporate boardrooms are increasingly arenas in the fight over the future of energy and the environment, making it vital for journalists to understand the players, their motivations and the potential impacts on business planning. The new Issue Backgrounder explores the implications of recent news around investment policy, explaining some of its origins and deciphering the shifting scrimmage ahead.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [43]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [44]
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [26]
Economy & Business [27]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Environmental Politics [9]
Journalism & Media [14]
Policy [17]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
International [22]
Visibility:
Public [23]
- Read more about Is Investor Activism Really Greening Corporate Policy? [42]
Before You Cover That Pipeline Protest, Check the Law [45]

At least 16 states currently have critical infrastructure anti-protest laws that could sweep up journalists on the scene, reports the latest TipSheet. The laws, which more states are considering, apply to pipelines, but sometimes other facilities that impact the environment too, like powerlines, dams, port facilities and refineries. How to keep track and avoid going to jail.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [25]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [44]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Environmental Justice [8]
Environmental Politics [9]
Government [12]
Infrastructure [28]
Journalism & Media [14]
Laws & Regulations [15]
Policy [17]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [46]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [40]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [35]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [47]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [48]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [49]
Visibility:
Public [23]
- Read more about Before You Cover That Pipeline Protest, Check the Law [45]
Ready for Climate Change-Induced Grid Blackouts Along With Heat Waves? [50]

Climate change can mean doubling down on disasters, such as a combination of widespread power outages with the kind of extreme heat that kills. The latest TipSheet explores why such simultaneous disasters are so dangerous, where they’ve happened already, why they are increasingly likely to happen again and how to prepare to cover them in your area.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [25]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [26]
Disasters [5]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Environmental Politics [9]
Health [13]
Infrastructure [28]
Journalism & Media [14]
Planning & Growth [16]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
California [51]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [46]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [35]
Northwest (OR WA) [41]
International [22]
Europe [52]
Visibility:
Public [23]
- Read more about Ready for Climate Change-Induced Grid Blackouts Along With Heat Waves? [50]
“Routledge Handbook of Environmental Journalism” [53]

While a “Handbook of Environmental Journalism” might initially sound like a scholarly work on environmental journalism, our BookShelf reviewer finds that the volume reads more like an engaging assembly of accessible accounts on the profession from colleagues across the planet. That makes it a rich resource for working journalists ... and anyone else with a passing interest in environmental issues and how they’re covered.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [38]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [5]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Environmental Health [7]
Environmental Politics [9]
Forests [11]
Health [13]
Journalism & Media [14]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [54]
Waste [55]
Wildlife [56]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [47]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [36]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [49]
International [22]
Africa [57]
South America [58]
Visibility:
Public [23]
- Read more about “Routledge Handbook of Environmental Journalism” [53]
To-Do List for Climate Change Gas Methane Is Long, Challenging … and Newsy [59]

The climate change gas methane, relatively little controlled but with a global warming potential many times that of carbon dioxide, has been much in the news recently and promises to remain there. The latest Backgrounder helps environmental journalists track the problem by detailing methane’s sources — from oil and gas production, agriculture and landfills — and the politics surrounding its regulation.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [43]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [3]
Air [60]
Chemicals [61]
Climate Change [4]
Economy & Business [27]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Environmental Politics [9]
Government [12]
Journalism & Media [14]
Laws & Regulations [15]
Policy [17]
Pollution [62]
Waste [55]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
International [22]
Visibility:
Public [23]
- Read more about To-Do List for Climate Change Gas Methane Is Long, Challenging … and Newsy [59]
Does Climate’s Future Depend on Better Batteries? [63]

The path of our planetary climate may depend largely on our transition away from energy sources that cause global warming. And that, in turn, may rely on one thing: improved batteries. The new Backgrounder explores the future of energy storage — how batteries work, the progress the technology has made and the brutal battery competition ahead between the United States and China.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [43]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [26]
Economy & Business [27]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Environmental Politics [9]
Science [18]
Technology [30]
Transportation [19]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
International [22]
Asia [31]
Visibility:
Public [23]
- Read more about Does Climate’s Future Depend on Better Batteries? [63]

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