Publication Items

Extremely Hot Weather Cooks Up Unusually Awful Air Pollution [1]

Summertime and the livin' is smoggy. American air may be clearer now than when the Clean Air Act was passed in 1970, but pollutants still abound. Heat and sunlight stoke chemical reactions that exacerbate health hazards. And worsening wildfires mix in harmful smoke. The latest TipSheet has more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Air [4]
Chemicals [5]
Climate Change [6]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Environmental Health [8]
Government [9]
Health [10]
Journalism & Media [11]
Laws & Regulations [12]
Pollution [13]
Transportation [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
International [16]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Extremely Hot Weather Cooks Up Unusually Awful Air Pollution [1]
Taming the Freight Beast [18]

The U.S. freight system delivers significant environmental impacts nationwide, especially in states that host major rail-and-road hubs and seaports. Meanwhile, new federal laws and policies are making it harder to curtail pollution generated by freight trucks, trains and warehouses. Journalist John Lippert looks at how the public, private and nonprofit sectors are rising to this challenge.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [19]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Air [4]
Climate Change [6]
Consumer [20]
Economy & Business [21]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Justice [22]
Environmental Politics [23]
Government [9]
Health [10]
Infrastructure [24]
Journalism & Media [11]
Laws & Regulations [12]
Policy [25]
Pollution [13]
Technology [26]
Transportation [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
California [27]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [28]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Taming the Freight Beast [18]
Why the Loss of Voting Rights Is a Climate Crisis [29]

When the Supreme Court further hollowed out the Voting Rights Act this spring, it augured a historic loss of civic power for Black communities. And with that comes a further blow — to progress on the environment. For as Voices of Environmental Justice columnist Yessenia Funes explains, key to climate policy are Black voters, and the Black legislators they bring into office.

SEJ Publication Types:
Voices of Environmental Justice [30]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Climate Change [6]
Disasters [31]
Environmental Justice [22]
Environmental Politics [23]
Government [9]
Journalism & Media [11]
Laws & Regulations [12]
People & Population [32]
Policy [25]
Pollution [13]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [33]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [34]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Why the Loss of Voting Rights Is a Climate Crisis [29]
Great Lakes Steelmaking at a Crossroads [35]

The Great Lakes region is a top steel producer, but its coal-fired steel mills are also a major source of planet-warming emissions and health-harming pollution. Climate advocates, community members and workers have been pushing to clean up these facilities for decades. Now, foreign funding offers new hope for revitalizing and decarbonizing the region’s steel industry. Canary Media’s Maria Gallucci explains.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [19]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Air [4]
Climate Change [6]
Economy & Business [21]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Environmental Politics [23]
Government [9]
Health [10]
Natural Resources [36]
Pollution [13]
Technology [26]
Water & Oceans [37]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [28]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [33]
International [16]
Asia [38]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Great Lakes Steelmaking at a Crossroads [35]
Kelp — The Understory, Underwater [39]

Massive kelp groves, little-noticed despite their proximity to populated coastlines or their importance to ecosystems and to us humans, face numerous pressures and a drastic decline. In “Forest of the Sea,” author David Helvarg dives into the subject, literally, to help reveal this unique undersea world. BookShelf contributing editor Jennifer Weeks has a review.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [40]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [41]
Climate Change [6]
Environmental Health [8]
Fish & Fisheries [42]
Natural Resources [36]
Pollution [13]
Water & Oceans [37]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
International [16]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Kelp — The Understory, Underwater [39]
Risk Data Is There Despite Efforts To Hide It [43]

Hazmat risk data has long been subject to blackout efforts by industry. And now, Trump administration allies may change the rules to make existing information even harder to get. But Reporter’s Toolbox knows where journalists can still find the goods to support their reporting. Read on to learn about risks to the program in question — and Toolbox workarounds.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [44]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [4]
Chemicals [5]
Disasters [31]
Environmental Politics [23]
Government [9]
Journalism & Media [11]
Laws & Regulations [12]
Policy [25]
Pollution [13]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Risk Data Is There Despite Efforts To Hide It [43]
Graphic Content — Journalistic Lessons From Crossing Genres [45]

Today’s teens are growing up in a world of conspicuous climate change, often directly affected by its consequences. Despite their youth, some are at the forefront of the fight against this threat. Freelance journalist and author Meera Subramanian — co-creator of a new nonfiction graphic novel about young climate campaigners — on teens as sources, activism as a topic and the pleasures of collaboration. See a sample of the book [46].

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [19]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Biodiversity [41]
Climate Change [6]
Disasters [31]
Diversity [47]
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Justice [22]
Environmental Politics [23]
Environmental Studies [48]
Health [10]
Journalism & Media [11]
Pollution [13]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [49]
Science [50]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [51]
International [16]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Graphic Content — Journalistic Lessons From Crossing Genres [45]
#SEJ2026 Live — Coverage of Conference Tours [52]

SEJournal is providing full coverage of all eight of the day-long tours from the annual Society of Environmental Journalists’ conference, April 15-18, in Chicago. In Part 2, contributors Meg Duff [53], Nathaniel Eisen [54], Nhung Nguyen [55] and Marlowe Starling [56] provide detailed reports from tours focused on the transitioning steel industry, microgrids, climate-friendly crop practices and evolving Midwestern agricultural systems.

Also check out the first round of tour coverage and read all the great work [52] from our team of early-career freelance journalists, part of SEJournal’s live #SEJ2026 Live conference reporting.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [57]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Agriculture [58]
Air [4]
Biodiversity [41]
Chemicals [5]
Climate Change [6]
Consumer [20]
Economy & Business [21]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Justice [22]
Environmental Politics [23]
Environmental Studies [48]
Food [59]
Forests [60]
Government [9]
Health [10]
Infrastructure [24]
Journalism & Media [11]
Laws & Regulations [12]
Natural Resources [36]
People & Population [32]
Planning & Growth [61]
Policy [25]
Pollution [13]
Science [50]
Technology [26]
Transportation [14]
Waste [62]
Water & Oceans [37]
Wildlife [63]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [28]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about #SEJ2026 Live — Coverage of Conference Tours [52]
War and Pizza — #SEJ2026 in Chicago [64]

Nearly as rejuvenating as attending the Society of Environmental Journalists’ annual gathering is perusing the après-conference spoof by contributing quipster David Helvarg. While it seemed he was mostly there unabashedly preselling his forthcoming book, he somehow found time to send up SEJ’s earnest sessions, lambast its blown-up tours and rib its beat dinners. Read his Chicago roast.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [57]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [58]
Air [4]
Chemicals [5]
Climate Change [6]
Economy & Business [21]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Justice [22]
Environmental Politics [23]
Fish & Fisheries [42]
Government [9]
Health [10]
Journalism & Media [11]
Natural Resources [36]
Policy [25]
Pollution [13]
Science [50]
Waste [62]
Water & Oceans [37]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [28]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about War and Pizza — #SEJ2026 in Chicago [64]
Why the Silencing of Protest Matters [65]

As the Trump administration and its allies seek to stifle free speech and paint protest as domestic terrorism, Voices columnist Yessenia Funes argues that environmental journalists must heed the impact on the environmental movement we cover. Start with what happened in Standing Rock, which swept back into the news this spring. Funes explains the connection, and where we may be headed.

SEJ Publication Types:
Voices of Environmental Justice [30]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Climate Change [6]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Justice [22]
Environmental Politics [23]
Government [9]
Journalism & Media [11]
Natural Resources [36]
People & Population [32]
Policy [25]
Pollution [13]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [49]
Water & Oceans [37]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [28]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [66]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [33]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Why the Silencing of Protest Matters [65]

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