Publication Items

Grant Brings Documentary Team to Chesapeake Bay’s Vastness [1]

New York-based documentarians Sebastian Tuinder and Duy Linh Tu took their multimedia skills on the road to explore the environmental problems plaguing the Chesapeake Bay. The resulting project, “Trouble in the Chesapeake,” was nominated for a local Emmy award and was credited with helping efforts to curb over-the-limit discharges from Maryland’s wastewater plants. Lessons learned from the grant-funded effort, in the latest FEJ StoryLog.

SEJ Publication Types:
FEJ StoryLog [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [3]
Climate Change [4]
Environmental Health [5]
Fish & Fisheries [6]
Journalism & Media [7]
Natural Resources [8]
Pollution [9]
Waste [10]
Water & Oceans [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [13]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about Grant Brings Documentary Team to Chesapeake Bay’s Vastness [1]
Eco-Alternatives to the Perfect, Weedless Lawn [15]

A good and very localizable environmental story is right outside your front door … or at least outside your neighbor’s. Lawns and the myriad ways they are managed can provide a window into wildness, or resource use, or chemical pollution. The latest TipSheet offers more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources, from xeriscaping and butterfly gardens to nurseries and planning boards.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [16]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [3]
Chemicals [17]
Consumer [18]
Environmental Health [5]
Government [19]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [20]
Planning & Growth [21]
Pollution [9]
Waste [10]
Water & Oceans [11]
Wildlife [22]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
International [23]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about Eco-Alternatives to the Perfect, Weedless Lawn [15]
Track Harmful Algal Blooms With Data. Avoid Bad Clams [24]

It’s summertime and the living is easy for algae that can be hazardous to human health. Climate heating and agricultural pollution are making the problem worse. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox explores useful sources of data for tracking trends. Plus, tips on how to use the data for local reporting on the risks posed by this seasonal threat.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [25]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [3]
Biodiversity [26]
Climate Change [4]
Economy & Business [27]
Environmental Health [5]
Fish & Fisheries [6]
Food [28]
Government [19]
Health [29]
Journalism & Media [7]
Natural Resources [8]
Pollution [9]
Science [30]
Water & Oceans [11]
Wildlife [22]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about Track Harmful Algal Blooms With Data. Avoid Bad Clams [24]
Will the Coming Plastics Treaty Solve the Problem Or Enshrine It? [31]

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 [32]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [17]
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [18]
Economy & Business [27]
Energy & Fuel [33]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Politics [34]
Government [19]
Health [29]
Journalism & Media [7]
Policy [35]
Pollution [9]
Waste [10]
Water & Oceans [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
International [23]
Asia [36]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about Will the Coming Plastics Treaty Solve the Problem Or Enshrine It? [31]
‘Endangered’ USGS Pesticide Database Shows Wide Chemical Impact [37]

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 [25]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [3]
Chemicals [17]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Politics [34]
Food [28]
Health [29]
Journalism & Media [7]
Pollution [9]
Water & Oceans [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about ‘Endangered’ USGS Pesticide Database Shows Wide Chemical Impact [37]
Pulling Back the Curtain on the Plunder of the Planet [38]

“Pitfall: The Race to Mine the World’s Most Vulnerable Places,” a new work by investigative journalist Christopher Pollon, offers a sweeping global view of how the mining industry profits, despite causing vast environmental losses and failing to acknowledge Indigenous ownership or rights to the land it mines. BookShelf’s Melody Kemp lauds Pollon’s searing observations and investigations. Read her review.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [39]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [40]
Biodiversity [26]
Consumer [18]
Economy & Business [27]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Justice [41]
Environmental Politics [34]
Fish & Fisheries [6]
Forests [42]
Natural Resources [8]
Policy [35]
Pollution [9]
Technology [43]
Water & Oceans [11]
Wildlife [22]
Region:
International [23]
Africa [44]
Asia [36]
Australia & Oceania [45]
South America [46]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about Pulling Back the Curtain on the Plunder of the Planet [38]
The EPA’s Power Plant Rule … We’ll See You in Court [47]

A new federal rule to cut power plant pollution and carbon dioxide emissions promises to escalate a yearslong, highly partisan battle at the core of U.S. climate change policy. Our Issue Backgrounder lays out the shifting regulatory approaches from the administrations of George W. Bush to Joe Biden, and notes the legal tug-of-war that has heightened the importance of another big player — the Supreme Court.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [32]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [48]
Climate Change [4]
Energy & Fuel [33]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Politics [34]
Government [19]
Laws & Regulations [20]
Policy [35]
Pollution [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about The EPA’s Power Plant Rule … We’ll See You in Court [47]
‘Green’ Steel: Five Things To Know About the U.S. Transition [49]

Plans for two new U.S. facilities that will use hydrogen instead of coal to make steel hold the promise of decarbonizing this essential but dirty industry. But don’t expect overnight change. Reporter Maria Gallucci looks at the complexities of making the switch, from ditching the blast furnace to reducing pollution all along the supply chain.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [50]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [40]
Air [48]
Chemicals [17]
Climate Change [4]
Economy & Business [27]
Energy & Fuel [33]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Justice [41]
Environmental Politics [34]
Government [19]
Natural Resources [8]
Policy [35]
Pollution [9]
Science [30]
Technology [43]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [51]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [13]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [52]
International [23]
Europe [53]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about ‘Green’ Steel: Five Things To Know About the U.S. Transition [49]
New PFAS Drinking Water Rule Promises Local Stories [54]

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 [16]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [17]
Consumer [18]
Government [19]
Health [29]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [20]
Policy [35]
Pollution [9]
Water & Oceans [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about New PFAS Drinking Water Rule Promises Local Stories [54]
Greenhouse Gas Inventory Data Helps Tell the Climate Story [55]

A massive data set that tracks greenhouse gas emissions in the United States is now newly updated, and the latest Reporter’s Toolbox calls it essential for informed reporting on U.S. climate policy. Its three decades-plus of measurements can help journalists track big emitters near them and from a variety of major sources ranging from landfill methane to industrial polluters.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [25]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [3]
Air [48]
Climate Change [4]
Energy & Fuel [33]
Environmental Health [5]
Government [19]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [20]
Policy [35]
Pollution [9]
Transportation [56]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about Greenhouse Gas Inventory Data Helps Tell the Climate Story [55]

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