Publication Items

Databases on Data Centers, Brockovich and Beyond [1]

An explosion of new artificial intelligence data centers means potential trouble, as they hoover up power and water, and spew global warming gases. It’s a story with national and global ramifications, certainly. But it’s also one that can be reported locally. Reporter’s Toolbox offers up some handy databases for environmental journalists to find data center stories in their communities.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Climate Change [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Infrastructure [6]
Journalism & Media [7]
Planning & Growth [8]
Technology [9]
Water & Oceans [10]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Databases on Data Centers, Brockovich and Beyond [1]
Great Lakes Steelmaking at a Crossroads [13]

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 [14]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Air [15]
Climate Change [4]
Economy & Business [16]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Politics [17]
Government [18]
Health [19]
Natural Resources [20]
Pollution [21]
Technology [9]
Water & Oceans [10]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [22]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [23]
International [24]
Asia [25]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Great Lakes Steelmaking at a Crossroads [13]
A Super (Probably ‘Duper’) El Niño Is Coming. Watch Out! [26]

The news has been full of warnings about a larger-than-normal El Niño, the periodic weather pattern that portends drastic fluctuations in everything from temperatures and precipitation to ocean currents and hurricanes. The latest Issue Backgrounder takes a step back to help explain exactly how this phenomenon works and what its impacts may be, while offering a parting thought on smart coverage.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [27]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [28]
Climate Change [4]
Environmental Studies [29]
Fish & Fisheries [30]
Food [31]
Journalism & Media [7]
Science [32]
Water & Oceans [10]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
International [24]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about A Super (Probably ‘Duper’) El Niño Is Coming. Watch Out! [26]
Catch-22 on the Baltic — Twilight of Poland’s Coastal Fisherman [33]

Small-scale fisheries on the wane in an obscure region of the world, and a unique ethnic group trapped between being a tourist attraction and surviving a failing industry. Read how award-winning Polish journalist Tadeusz Michrowski turned this small, unsexy story into something bigger, a complex and nuanced portrait of a community of individuals in transition.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [34]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Politics [17]
Fish & Fisheries [30]
Journalism & Media [7]
Natural Resources [20]
People & Population [35]
Water & Oceans [10]
Region:
International [24]
Europe [36]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Catch-22 on the Baltic — Twilight of Poland’s Coastal Fisherman [33]
Is Climate Disaster Insurance a Worsening Disaster? [37]

The growing disconnect between climate risk and risk insurance for homeowners is leaving millions on the knife-edge of economic disaster. But the latest TipSheet suggests that reality offers environmental journalists an opportunity to navigate the morass, community by community. Get more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources in the latest column.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [38]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [39]
Disasters [40]
Environmental Politics [17]
Government [18]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [41]
People & Population [35]
Planning & Growth [8]
Policy [42]
Water & Oceans [10]
Wildlife [43]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
California [44]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [23]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Is Climate Disaster Insurance a Worsening Disaster? [37]
Kelp — The Understory, Underwater [45]

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 [46]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [47]
Climate Change [4]
Environmental Health [48]
Fish & Fisheries [30]
Natural Resources [20]
Pollution [21]
Water & Oceans [10]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
International [24]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Kelp — The Understory, Underwater [45]
National Seashores Are a Secret Summer Treasure [49]

While less heralded than its national park system, the United States abounds in waterfront treasures that are part of the national seashore and lakeshore program. The latest TipSheet takes you on a guided tour of more than a dozen, from barrier islands and dunes to tidepools and turtles. Plus, a half-dozen reporting ideas for your own region.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [38]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [18]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [41]
Natural Resources [20]
Water & Oceans [10]
Region:
California [44]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [22]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [50]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [51]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [23]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [52]
International [24]
Canada [53]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about National Seashores Are a Secret Summer Treasure [49]
#SEJ2026 Live — Coverage of Conference Tours [54]

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 [55], Nathaniel Eisen [56], Nhung Nguyen [57] and Marlowe Starling [58] 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 [54] from our team of early-career freelance journalists, part of SEJournal’s live #SEJ2026 Live conference reporting.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [59]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Agriculture [28]
Air [15]
Biodiversity [47]
Chemicals [60]
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [39]
Economy & Business [16]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Health [48]
Environmental Justice [61]
Environmental Politics [17]
Environmental Studies [29]
Food [31]
Forests [62]
Government [18]
Health [19]
Infrastructure [6]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [41]
Natural Resources [20]
People & Population [35]
Planning & Growth [8]
Policy [42]
Pollution [21]
Science [32]
Technology [9]
Transportation [63]
Waste [64]
Water & Oceans [10]
Wildlife [43]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [22]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about #SEJ2026 Live — Coverage of Conference Tours [54]
War and Pizza — #SEJ2026 in Chicago [65]

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 [59]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [28]
Air [15]
Chemicals [60]
Climate Change [4]
Economy & Business [16]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Health [48]
Environmental Justice [61]
Environmental Politics [17]
Fish & Fisheries [30]
Government [18]
Health [19]
Journalism & Media [7]
Natural Resources [20]
Policy [42]
Pollution [21]
Science [32]
Waste [64]
Water & Oceans [10]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [22]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about War and Pizza — #SEJ2026 in Chicago [65]
Why the Silencing of Protest Matters [66]

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 [67]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Climate Change [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Health [48]
Environmental Justice [61]
Environmental Politics [17]
Government [18]
Journalism & Media [7]
Natural Resources [20]
People & Population [35]
Policy [42]
Pollution [21]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [68]
Water & Oceans [10]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [22]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [69]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [23]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Why the Silencing of Protest Matters [66]

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