Publication Items

COP28 Will Be Earth-Shaping News in 2024 and Beyond [1]

When nations converge this fall for the latest round of annual talks on harnessing climate change, they meet at a crucial juncture. Will the increasingly dramatic impacts of global warming, and the prospects of worse, focus their attention enough to bring about progress? In this sweeping analysis, Backgrounder assesses the varied pressures at play at the coming COP28, along with tips for covering it, from up close or afar.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Politics [6]
Environmental Studies [7]
Government [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Policy [11]
Science [12]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
International [14]
Canada [15]
Africa [16]
Asia [17]
Europe [18]
Middle East [19]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about COP28 Will Be Earth-Shaping News in 2024 and Beyond [1]
Waste Incineration May Put Toxics Into Local Air [21]

Sometimes on the environment beat, what seems like an old story is perpetually new again. That’s the case with waste incineration, finds the latest TipSheet. Rather than being reduced, incinerators are just being transformed, with the ongoing burning of plastics especially troubling for the environment and public health. Get the backstory on where the regulatory regime may have holes, plus key reporting angles and story ideas.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [22]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [23]
Air [24]
Chemicals [25]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Justice [26]
Environmental Politics [6]
Health [27]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Pollution [28]
Waste [29]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Waste Incineration May Put Toxics Into Local Air [21]
Data on Pesticide Incidents Openly Available for First Time [30]

A decade’s worth of government pesticide data — only available before through FOIA — has been made newly available. And, explains the latest Reporter’s Toolbox, it can lead to revealing environmental, public health and environmental justice stories. More on how the data came to be compiled and advice on using it smartly, along with some caveats.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [31]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [32]
Chemicals [25]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Justice [26]
Food [33]
Health [27]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Pollution [28]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Data on Pesticide Incidents Openly Available for First Time [30]
Painful Process Underway of Regulating PFAS in Drinking Water [34]

Long-growing concern over dangerous “forever” chemicals has drawn the attention of federal and state policymakers, local communities and the utilities that provide their drinking water. But little about regulating PFAS will be quick or easy, making it a major environmental and public health story for years to come. Issue Backgrounder unfolds the regulatory moves, the politics and the larger implications of PFAS policy.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [25]
Consumer [35]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Politics [6]
Government [8]
Health [27]
Infrastructure [36]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Pollution [28]
Water & Oceans [37]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Painful Process Underway of Regulating PFAS in Drinking Water [34]
Both Sides Now — How Permitting Reform May Affect Fossil Fuel, Clean Energy Industries [38]

It’s a political knot with the potential to tangle the fossil energy industry, the clean energy industry … or both. Environmental journalists looking to better report on the impacts of permitting reform can start with our latest Backgrounder, which explores the issue’s recent history and the competing visions that have stalled changes. There’s also the “backroom problem.” Plus, get a rundown of key actors.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [23]
Climate Change [3]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Environmental Politics [6]
Government [8]
Infrastructure [36]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Natural Resources [39]
Policy [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Alaska and Hawaii [40]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [41]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [42]
International [14]
Canada [15]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Both Sides Now — How Permitting Reform May Affect Fossil Fuel, Clean Energy Industries [38]
Watching the Watchers: How Journalistic Teamwork Uncovered Years of Regulatory Failure in Texas [43]

After a massive fire at a Texas petrochemical storage facility, reporters from Public Health Watch and The Texas Tribune worked together to shed light on who was responsible for this disaster and what health threats had been hidden from the public. This behind-the-scenes report from Public Health Watch’s David Leffler and Savanna Strott looks at the challenges the team faced and how they overcame them.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [44]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [24]
Chemicals [25]
Disasters [45]
Economy & Business [46]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Justice [26]
Environmental Politics [6]
Government [8]
Health [27]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Pollution [28]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [47]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Watching the Watchers: How Journalistic Teamwork Uncovered Years of Regulatory Failure in Texas [43]
Threats to Press Come in Many Forms. Some Are Violent. [48]

Attacks of all kinds on U.S. journalists clearly hamper a free press. And environmental journalists are not spared such aggressions, especially when covering contested places like pipeline construction sites. WatchDog Opinion outlines the problem and explores how journalists might be spared from such violations, including with a prospective law explicitly protecting journalists from assault.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [49]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [23]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Environmental Politics [6]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Policy [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [50]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [51]
International [14]
Canada [15]
South America [52]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Threats to Press Come in Many Forms. Some Are Violent. [48]
How To Power Through Your EPA Power Plant Rule Coverage [53]

The new proposed limits on climate pollution from existing power plants will be a significant story for years to come, but one with many moving parts and numerous complications. The new Issue Backgrounder explores the larger context and history of the proposed rule, and provides six key developments to watch as you track its evolution.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [24]
Climate Change [3]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Politics [6]
Health [27]
Infrastructure [36]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Policy [11]
Pollution [28]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about How To Power Through Your EPA Power Plant Rule Coverage [53]
CAFO SNAFU — Why Emissions Data Are So Hard To Find [54]

Sometimes the challenge for environmental reporters is a mess of data. But sometimes it’s just less data. That’s the case with confined animal feed operations, which have been the subject of a years-long political tug of war over tracking emissions harmful to humans and the environment. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox explains, then offers alternate sources for CAFO data.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [31]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [32]
Air [24]
Economy & Business [46]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Justice [26]
Environmental Politics [6]
Food [33]
Health [27]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Pollution [28]
Waste [29]
Water & Oceans [37]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about CAFO SNAFU — Why Emissions Data Are So Hard To Find [54]
Why Fox-Dominion Matters for Environmental Journalists [55]

Not only did the huge legal settlement in the Dominion Voting Systems libel suit against Fox Corp. help reinforce media libel protections set out decades ago in New York Times v. Sullivan. It also served as a reminder for environmental journalists that the “actual malice” standard is a bulwark for their own (often negative) reporting on big corporations. WatchDog Opinion explains.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [49]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Economy & Business [46]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Policy [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
International [14]
Europe [18]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Why Fox-Dominion Matters for Environmental Journalists [55]

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