Publication Items

Teaming Up To Tap Into Texas Regulatory Capture [1]

When reporters from Inside Climate News and The Texas Tribune teamed up on a multipart series about Texas environmental regulators, they found state agencies sidestepping science, the law and accountability. The beneficiaries? The oil and gas industry. Their prizewinning reporting was praised for its data analysis, and public records and field reporting. Read an Inside Story Q&A with Martha Pskowski of Inside Climate News.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Pollution [3]
Water & Oceans [4]
Region:
National (U.S.) [5]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [6]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Teaming Up To Tap Into Texas Regulatory Capture [1]
‘People Will Die’ — Stories Behind Trump Budget Bill [8]

The Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” is anything but, especially in its unraveling of efforts to weave environmental and climate justice into American society, argues the new Voices of Environmental Justice. In her latest column, writer Yessenia Funes calls on journalists to report its ramifications not just for the planet but for the most vulnerable people living on it. Here are key stories to start with.

SEJ Publication Types:
Voices of Environmental Justice [9]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [10]
Air [11]
Chemicals [12]
Climate Change [13]
Energy & Fuel [14]
Environmental Health [15]
Environmental Justice [16]
Environmental Politics [17]
Government [18]
Health [19]
Infrastructure [20]
Journalism & Media [21]
Laws & Regulations [22]
People & Population [23]
Policy [24]
Pollution [3]
Waste [25]
Water & Oceans [4]
Region:
National (U.S.) [5]
Alaska and Hawaii [26]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [27]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about ‘People Will Die’ — Stories Behind Trump Budget Bill [8]
Lapses in Enforcement by Trump's EPA May Yield Local Environment Stories [28]

Enforcement has usually been serious business at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Now it seems many pollution laws are going unpoliced. TipSheet explains how the EPA’s own resources can help investigative reporters find violations, track regulatory actions and uncover nationwide patterns of corporate mismanagement.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [29]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [11]
Chemicals [12]
Economy & Business [30]
Energy & Fuel [14]
Environmental Health [15]
Environmental Justice [16]
Environmental Politics [17]
Government [18]
Health [19]
Journalism & Media [21]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Pollution [3]
Waste [25]
Water & Oceans [4]
Region:
National (U.S.) [5]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Lapses in Enforcement by Trump's EPA May Yield Local Environment Stories [28]
Wildfire Smoke Is Showing Up Everywhere. It Can Be Fatal [31]

Wildfire’s immensely destructive power is not just about what it burns. The smoke from more frequent fires, too, has real potential to harm human health, the new Backgrounder explains, releasing particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides and worse. Learn more about the hazards and historical perspective, along with what journalists should tell their communities can be done.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [32]
Topics on the Beat:
Planning & Growth [33]
Policy [24]
Pollution [3]
Region:
National (U.S.) [5]
California [34]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [35]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [36]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [37]
International [38]
Canada [39]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Wildfire Smoke Is Showing Up Everywhere. It Can Be Fatal [31]
Recreation in Polluted Water Can Be Threat to Human Health [40]

A cool swim on a hot day is one of the quintessential pleasures of summer. That is, unless polluted water makes it — and any other aquatic contact — a high-risk activity. It’s an important environmental and public health story for journalists to tell. TipSheet helps review waterborne illnesses to watch for, regulations supposed to protect against them and local story ideas to pursue.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [29]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [41]
Chemicals [12]
Environmental Health [15]
Environmental Politics [17]
Health [19]
Journalism & Media [21]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Pollution [3]
Water & Oceans [4]
Region:
National (U.S.) [5]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Recreation in Polluted Water Can Be Threat to Human Health [40]
Lead Pipe Data Map Offers Sharp New Tool [42]

Lead-contaminated drinking water has long been a widespread worry, but one big challenge has been locating the many lead service lines around the United States. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox points you to a mappable database to help address that problem, with current, detailed data filtered through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Learn more about this resource and how to best use it.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [43]
Topics on the Beat:
Consumer [44]
Environmental Politics [17]
Health [19]
Infrastructure [20]
Journalism & Media [21]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Policy [24]
Pollution [3]
Water & Oceans [4]
Region:
National (U.S.) [5]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Lead Pipe Data Map Offers Sharp New Tool [42]
Tainted Water, Tainted Power — Inside a Hog-Farm Empire [45]

A powerful politician and his family’s groundwater-polluting agricultural business were the focus of an award-winning series that delved into the intersection of politics, power, privilege and regulatory capture. In the latest Inside Story Q&A, journalist Yanqi Xu discusses how the reporting uncovered deep and unexpected impacts on small town economies, water quality and the living conditions of the hog farms’ neighbors.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [41]
Chemicals [12]
Economy & Business [30]
Environmental Health [15]
Environmental Justice [16]
Environmental Politics [17]
Health [19]
Journalism & Media [21]
People & Population [23]
Pollution [3]
Waste [25]
Water & Oceans [4]
Region:
National (U.S.) [5]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [46]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Tainted Water, Tainted Power — Inside a Hog-Farm Empire [45]
Battle Over Gas Power Facility Generates Months-Long Investigation [47]

A private social media message piqued Arizona Republic reporter Joan Meiners’ interest in rural retirees’ efforts to block construction of a gas-fired peaker plant next to their homes. Her year-long, grant-funded investigation in 2024 uncovered questionable local government actions and utility executive motives, and concluded with action against the facility. Read Meiners’ account of how rural Arizonans became unlikely climate activists, in the latest FEJ Storylog.

SEJ Publication Types:
FEJ StoryLog [48]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [10]
Air [11]
Consumer [44]
Energy & Fuel [14]
Environmental Politics [17]
Government [18]
Health [19]
Journalism & Media [21]
People & Population [23]
Pollution [3]
Region:
National (U.S.) [5]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [6]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Battle Over Gas Power Facility Generates Months-Long Investigation [47]
From Fear to Fascination — A New Insect Narrative [49]

Media coverage of “bugs” is often sensationalistic and centered on fear and disgust. But conservation photographer and writer Danae Wolfe says journalists should be highlighting the importance, beauty and plight of insects and spiders. Reporting that offers alternative perspectives on these essential creatures can inspire curiosity and admiration, and encourage efforts to protect them. Wolfe on why to write about insects.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [50]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [10]
Agriculture [41]
Biodiversity [51]
Chemicals [12]
Climate Change [13]
Environmental Health [15]
Environmental Studies [52]
Food [53]
Forests [54]
Journalism & Media [21]
Pollution [3]
Science [55]
Wildlife [56]
Region:
National (U.S.) [5]
International [38]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about From Fear to Fascination — A New Insect Narrative [49]
Mapping Out Local PFAS Risk, As Federal Rules Waver [57]

As the Trump administration rolls back Biden-era rules limiting the presence of “forever chemicals” in drinking water, an updated data mapping tool helps pinpoint local angles on the PFAS story. The latest TipSheet outlines the basics on this class of widely used chemicals, their risks to humans and the challenges of regulating them, plus provides a half-dozen story ideas and questions to ask.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [29]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [12]
Consumer [44]
Health [19]
Journalism & Media [21]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Policy [24]
Pollution [3]
Science [55]
Water & Oceans [4]
Region:
National (U.S.) [5]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Mapping Out Local PFAS Risk, As Federal Rules Waver [57]

Pages