Publication Items

Will the Coming Plastics Treaty Solve the Problem Or Enshrine It? [1]

A major intergovernmental gathering later this year will address plastic pollution, including in oceans. But an overview from our Issue Backgrounder notes that the likelihood of solving the problem may be small. One reason? Petrochemical industry lobbying. Another? The shifting world market for plastic waste. And there are more concerns, such as the effectiveness of incineration and chemical recycling techniques. More, including questions to ask, in Backgrounder.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [3]
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [5]
Economy & Business [6]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Politics [9]
Government [10]
Health [11]
Journalism & Media [12]
Policy [13]
Pollution [14]
Waste [15]
Water & Oceans [16]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
International [18]
Asia [19]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Will the Coming Plastics Treaty Solve the Problem Or Enshrine It? [1]
‘Endangered’ USGS Pesticide Database Shows Wide Chemical Impact [21]

Pesticides are a major environmental and public health issue — harming vulnerable human populations, as well as contributing to declines in insect populations and even the birds that feed on them. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox explores an invaluable government database that reports estimates of county-level use of a wide array of these chemicals, but which recently faced severe cutbacks. Read more about the Pesticide National Synthesis Project.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [22]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [23]
Chemicals [3]
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Politics [9]
Food [24]
Health [11]
Journalism & Media [12]
Pollution [14]
Water & Oceans [16]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about ‘Endangered’ USGS Pesticide Database Shows Wide Chemical Impact [21]
What Makes Communities More Survivable in Extreme Heat Events? [25]

When heat waves hit your area, as they did for much of the United States in June, local responses can (and should) go well beyond individual behaviors to address broader area actions — from cool pavements to urban trees. For environmental journalists, that means community-level heat response is an important climate story angle. TipSheet explains, then offers a dozen story ideas, along with reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [26]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [5]
Disasters [27]
Health [11]
Infrastructure [28]
Journalism & Media [12]
People & Population [29]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about What Makes Communities More Survivable in Extreme Heat Events? [25]
New HeatRisk Data Site Helps Warn on Health Threats [30]

As global warming worsens heat-related illnesses, U.S. government agencies have refined a data tool whose greatest value may be to warn people about the extreme heat events that can send them to the emergency room or worse. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox explores the improved HeatRisk site and how its combination of climate and medical considerations refocuses attention on the vulnerable.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [22]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [5]
Disasters [27]
Health [11]
Journalism & Media [12]
People & Population [29]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about New HeatRisk Data Site Helps Warn on Health Threats [30]
New PFAS Drinking Water Rule Promises Local Stories [31]

New federal regulations governing a group of “forever chemicals” under the Safe Drinking Water Act — a rule years in the making — have important implications for local drinking water supplies and, per the latest TipSheet, local environment reporting. A look at the problem with PFAS, the complicated route to its regulation and more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [26]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [3]
Consumer [5]
Government [10]
Health [11]
Journalism & Media [12]
Laws & Regulations [32]
Policy [13]
Pollution [14]
Water & Oceans [16]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about New PFAS Drinking Water Rule Promises Local Stories [31]
Cross-Border Project Exposes Extent of PFAS Contamination in Europe [33]

A dozen European news partners collaborated last year to gather a massive set of water, soil and organism samples that pointed to more than 17,000 PFAS-contaminated sites in the region, many known to authorities but kept from the public. The award-winning project was led by Le Monde’s Stéphane Horel, who spoke with SEJournal for the latest Inside Story Q&A.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [34]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [3]
Environmental Studies [35]
Health [11]
Journalism & Media [12]
Pollution [14]
Region:
International [18]
Europe [36]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Cross-Border Project Exposes Extent of PFAS Contamination in Europe [33]
Climate Crisis Makes for Real Fashion Emergency [37]

Fast fashion’s lack of sustainability has long been the subject of news media coverage. But now the realities of climate change mean that fashion reporting must be reimagined to include the lived environmental and human rights realities of workers making what we wear, writes contributor Yessenia Funes in the new Voices of Environmental Justice column. Ideas and resources for getting past simplistic fashion industry narratives.

SEJ Publication Types:
Voices of Environmental Justice [38]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [39]
Agriculture [23]
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [5]
Economy & Business [6]
Environmental Justice [40]
Health [11]
Journalism & Media [12]
People & Population [29]
Policy [13]
Waste [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
International [18]
Asia [19]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Climate Crisis Makes for Real Fashion Emergency [37]
Philly Steaks Out New Ground [41]

It just wouldn’t be the Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference recap without the waggish tales of SEJ’s resident wit, David Helvarg, who once again this year skewers the lot of us, sparing not a jot of our five days in Philadelphia. Read on and prepare to snicker.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [42]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [23]
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [27]
Economy & Business [6]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Environmental Politics [9]
Food [24]
Government [10]
Health [11]
Infrastructure [28]
Journalism & Media [12]
Natural Resources [43]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [44]
Policy [13]
Pollution [14]
Technology [45]
Transportation [46]
Waste [15]
Water & Oceans [16]
Wildlife [47]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [48]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Philly Steaks Out New Ground [41]
Award-Winning Beat Reporting Highlights Legacy of Environmental Racism [49]

Top-flight regional reporting (and data analysis) that explored inequities between Black and white communities around Baltimore, Maryland, yielded journalist Scott Dance a wide range of stories — and a first-place prize in the most recent awards from the Society of Environmental Journalists. Dance, now on the climate desk for The Washington Post shares insights from the beat in the new Inside Story.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [34]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [23]
Climate Change [4]
Environmental Justice [40]
Fish & Fisheries [50]
Health [11]
Journalism & Media [12]
People & Population [29]
Planning & Growth [51]
Policy [13]
Pollution [14]
Water & Oceans [16]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [48]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Award-Winning Beat Reporting Highlights Legacy of Environmental Racism [49]
Six Ways To Cover the Environmental Impacts of Animal Agriculture [52]

Animal agriculture is a massive industry with a vast environmental footprint, so there are plenty of reporting opportunities for journalists on the “eat beat.” In the second of two parts [53], following last week’s examination of diet-related greenhouse gas emissions, food-and-climate journalist Jenny Splitter serves up a variety of story ideas and information sources, plus some thoughts on solutions journalism.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [54]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [39]
Agriculture [23]
Air [55]
Biodiversity [56]
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [5]
Economy & Business [6]
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Justice [40]
Environmental Politics [9]
Environmental Studies [35]
Food [24]
Forests [57]
Government [10]
Health [11]
Journalism & Media [12]
Pollution [14]
Waste [15]
Water & Oceans [16]
Wildlife [47]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
International [18]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Six Ways To Cover the Environmental Impacts of Animal Agriculture [52]

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