Publication Items

EPA’s PFAS Plan Likely To Generate News, If Not Fixes, in 2022 [1]

A government plan to address a class of so-called “forever chemicals,” widespread in the environment and implicated in human health effects, will pick up speed in 2022. But whether the effort will solve problems around PFAS remains to be seen. The latest TipSheet outlines the challenge, the EPA plan and smart ways to cover the story in your area.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [3]
Consumer [4]
Government [5]
Health [6]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [8]
Policy [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about EPA’s PFAS Plan Likely To Generate News, If Not Fixes, in 2022 [1]
U.N. Summit Lays the Table for Environmental Reporting on Food Systems [12]

After an 18-month buildup, a one-day U.N. Food Systems Summit earlier this fall generated hundreds of commitments to end global hunger and a dizzying array of alliances dedicated to the cause. Despite controversies surrounding the summit, this groundbreaking event highlighted opportunities for reporting on food and food systems. Award-winning agriculture journalist Chris Clayton shares his insights.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [13]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [14]
Agriculture [15]
Biodiversity [16]
Chemicals [3]
Climate Change [17]
Consumer [4]
Disasters [18]
Economy & Business [19]
Energy & Fuel [20]
Environmental Health [21]
Environmental Justice [22]
Environmental Politics [23]
Food [24]
Government [5]
Health [6]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [8]
Natural Resources [25]
People & Population [26]
Planning & Growth [27]
Policy [9]
Pollution [28]
Science [29]
Technology [30]
Waste [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
California [32]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [33]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [34]
International [35]
Canada [36]
Africa [37]
Europe [38]
Middle East [39]
South America [40]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about U.N. Summit Lays the Table for Environmental Reporting on Food Systems [12]
Will Animal-To-Human Disease Transmission Bring the Next Big Pandemic? [41]

The COVID-19 outbreak has left little unchanged — including how environment reporters do their jobs, given that many experts believe the disruption of the human-wild interface could be the source of the next deadly virus. The new Backgrounder makes the case in this analysis, looking at how societies — and journalists — handled this pandemic and must prepare for possible future outbreaks.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [42]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [15]
Biodiversity [16]
Disasters [18]
Environmental Health [21]
Forests [43]
Government [5]
Health [6]
Journalism & Media [7]
People & Population [26]
Science [29]
Wildlife [44]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
International [35]
Asia [45]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Will Animal-To-Human Disease Transmission Bring the Next Big Pandemic? [41]
Will 2022 See the Start of Formal Negotiations Toward a Global Plastics Treaty? [46]

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 [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [14]
Air [47]
Chemicals [3]
Climate Change [17]
Consumer [4]
Economy & Business [19]
Environmental Health [21]
Environmental Politics [23]
Fish & Fisheries [48]
Food [24]
Government [5]
Health [6]
Journalism & Media [7]
Policy [9]
Pollution [28]
Waste [31]
Water & Oceans [49]
Wildlife [44]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
International [35]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Will 2022 See the Start of Formal Negotiations Toward a Global Plastics Treaty? [46]
Climate Resiliency — When a Disaster Becomes a Cascade [50]

It sometimes feels like journalists lurch from one catastrophe (or hurricane, flood, wildfire, heat wave) to the next. But that can mean missing the bigger story: Disasters, increasingly linked to climate extremes, are often interlocking events, in which one system failure causes the next and the next. The latest Backgrounder explores three case studies, and how news media can focus attention on steps toward resilience.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [42]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [17]
Disasters [18]
Energy & Fuel [20]
Environmental Justice [22]
Environmental Politics [23]
Government [5]
Health [6]
Infrastructure [51]
Journalism & Media [7]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [52]
People & Population [26]
Planning & Growth [27]
Technology [30]
Water & Oceans [49]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [53]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [34]
International [35]
Asia [45]
Europe [38]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Climate Resiliency — When a Disaster Becomes a Cascade [50]
Two Communities, Two Hazards and the Two Award-Winners Reporting Them [54]

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 [55]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [47]
Climate Change [17]
Diversity [56]
Energy & Fuel [20]
Environmental Health [21]
Environmental Justice [22]
Environmental Studies [57]
Fish & Fisheries [48]
Food [24]
Health [6]
Journalism & Media [7]
People & Population [26]
Pollution [28]
Science [29]
Water & Oceans [49]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Alaska and Hawaii [58]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [59]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Two Communities, Two Hazards and the Two Award-Winners Reporting Them [54]
The 9/11 Legacy — Fear Drew Curtain Over Environmental Information [60]

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 [61]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [14]
Agriculture [15]
Air [47]
Chemicals [3]
Disasters [18]
Economy & Business [19]
Energy & Fuel [20]
Environmental Politics [23]
Food [24]
Government [5]
Health [6]
Infrastructure [51]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [8]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [52]
People & Population [26]
Policy [9]
Transportation [62]
Waste [31]
Water & Oceans [49]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
California [32]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [34]
International [35]
Africa [37]
Asia [45]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about The 9/11 Legacy — Fear Drew Curtain Over Environmental Information [60]
Early Toxics Release Inventory Data Can Yield Scoops [63]

In a few weeks, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will officially release the latest year’s Toxics Release Inventory. But as Reporter’s Toolbox explains, you can get ahead of the data — and possibly generate some scoops. That’s because EPA quietly releases incomplete preliminary data months earlier. Top tips on making sense of the early data, along with nine smart story leads.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [64]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [3]
Environmental Justice [22]
Environmental Politics [23]
Environmental Studies [57]
Government [5]
Health [6]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [8]
People & Population [26]
Pollution [28]
Waste [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Early Toxics Release Inventory Data Can Yield Scoops [63]
Reclaiming Coal Country — Quest for a New Economy in Appalachia [65]

Longtime energy and environment journalist Elizabeth McGowan traveled to southeast Kentucky to shine a light on efforts to diversify Appalachia’s longtime coal-based economy. In FEJ StoryLog, McGowan shares how her on-the-ground reporting approach, funded in part by the Society of Environmental Journalists’ Fund for Environmental Journalism, yielded not only a powerful story, but insights into overcoming its challenges.

SEJ Publication Types:
FEJ StoryLog [66]
Topics on the Beat:
Economy & Business [19]
Energy & Fuel [20]
Environmental Justice [22]
Environmental Politics [23]
Government [5]
Health [6]
Journalism & Media [7]
Natural Resources [25]
People & Population [26]
Policy [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [53]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Reclaiming Coal Country — Quest for a New Economy in Appalachia [65]
Air Quality Monitors — and Their Data — Now Easy To Find Via Online Map [67]

High-impact environmental stories often come by tracking polluted air, whether from summer smog, wildfire smoke or numerous other sources. Reporter’s Toolbox offers a series of air pollution data reporting resources, including an interactive map of U.S. air quality monitors. Get the details, plus eight smart suggestions for critical stories from the air pollution data you tap.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [64]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [15]
Air [47]
Chemicals [3]
Government [5]
Health [6]
Journalism & Media [7]
Pollution [28]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Air Quality Monitors — and Their Data — Now Easy To Find Via Online Map [67]

Pages