Publication Items

Congressional Infrastructure Bill Loaded With Local Stories [1]

The massive infrastructure measure signed into law last week is a potential mother lode of stories for environmental journalists. If that is, they can figure out where the money is going. The latest TipSheet takes an initial look at the $1.2 trillion plan and offers guidance on how to track down reportable local and regional projects.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [3]
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [5]
Economy & Business [6]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Environmental Politics [8]
Government [9]
Infrastructure [10]
Journalism & Media [11]
Laws & Regulations [12]
Policy [13]
Transportation [14]
Water & Oceans [15]
Wildlife [16]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about Congressional Infrastructure Bill Loaded With Local Stories [1]
Rural Reporter Turns Routine Permit Into Award-Winning Investigation [19]

It was a seemingly mundane legal notice about a surface water discharge permit. But when Wyoming journalist Angus Thuermer Jr. took a closer look, he discovered that it would mean massive discharges of pollutants into local waters. Inside Story explains how Thuermer revealed the truth about the plans, prompting local protests and, ultimately, a withdrawal of the permit.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [20]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [3]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Environmental Health [21]
Environmental Politics [8]
Fish & Fisheries [22]
Health [23]
Journalism & Media [11]
People & Population [24]
Pollution [25]
Water & Oceans [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [26]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about Rural Reporter Turns Routine Permit Into Award-Winning Investigation [19]
Climate Change at Core of Beat Reporters’ Award-Winning Coverage [27]

Beat reporters Hal Bernton and Mark Kaufman both found the dramatic changes wrought by climate change to be at the center of their coverage — as their work was elevated to prize-winning heights. Bernton, covering climate impacts in northwestern Alaska at a large newspaper, and Kaufman, covering CO2 globally for a digital platform, talk about the lessons of their recent beat coverage with SEJournal’s Inside Story.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [20]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Environmental Health [21]
Fish & Fisheries [22]
Journalism & Media [11]
Natural Resources [28]
Policy [13]
Water & Oceans [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
Alaska and Hawaii [29]
International [30]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about Climate Change at Core of Beat Reporters’ Award-Winning Coverage [27]
Will 2022 See the Start of Formal Negotiations Toward a Global Plastics Treaty? [31]

Plastic waste, already the subject of preliminary international talks, could be increasingly targeted after UN meetings in early 2022. Meanwhile, this ubiquitous product is polluting land, ocean and air in its various forms, as well as through little-understood microplastic particles. The latest TipSheet has the backstory on efforts to forge an international plastics treaty, as well as ideas for how to cover plastic pollution locally.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [32]
Air [33]
Chemicals [3]
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [34]
Economy & Business [6]
Environmental Health [21]
Environmental Politics [8]
Fish & Fisheries [22]
Food [35]
Government [9]
Health [23]
Journalism & Media [11]
Policy [13]
Pollution [25]
Waste [36]
Water & Oceans [15]
Wildlife [16]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
International [30]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about Will 2022 See the Start of Formal Negotiations Toward a Global Plastics Treaty? [31]
Mapping Flood Risk — Research Outfit Offers Alternative Dataset [37]

Climate change makes flooding — and flood reporting — increasingly likely, and yet government data on flood risk often falls short. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox offers an alternative, an ambitious, peer-reviewed dataset from a unique nonprofit research outfit that offers free data aggregated to the zip code, county and congressional district levels. More on the dataset and how to use it.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [38]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [5]
Environmental Studies [39]
Infrastructure [10]
Journalism & Media [11]
Water & Oceans [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about Mapping Flood Risk — Research Outfit Offers Alternative Dataset [37]
How ‘The Swamp Peddlers’ Scammed Their Way to Florida’s Eco-Destruction [40]

How did Florida go from an uncrowded home of pine forests, wetlands and ranches to today’s sprawling subdivisions spawning environmental disaster? A new volume gains praise from BookShelf reviewer Nano Riley for its well-researched look at the unscrupulous developers who in a matter of decades carved the state’s ecosystems into lots for sale, trading its pristine beauty for an easy buck.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [41]
Topics on the Beat:
Economy & Business [6]
Environmental Politics [8]
People & Population [24]
Planning & Growth [42]
Water & Oceans [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [43]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about How ‘The Swamp Peddlers’ Scammed Their Way to Florida’s Eco-Destruction [40]
New Landsat 9 Offers Variety of Resource Stories [44]

The launch of NASA’s new Landsat Earth-observing satellite is a reminder to reporters that millions of images from over five decades can help unearth many environmental trends, whether deforestation, coastal erosion, suburban sprawl or wildfire impacts. The new Reporter’s Toolbox explains how the service works and how to access the resource, along with examples of prize-winning stories.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [38]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [45]
Climate Change [4]
Environmental Health [21]
Environmental Studies [39]
Forests [46]
Government [9]
Journalism & Media [11]
Natural Resources [28]
Science [47]
Technology [48]
Water & Oceans [15]
Wildlife [16]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
International [30]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about New Landsat 9 Offers Variety of Resource Stories [44]
Climate Resiliency — When a Disaster Becomes a Cascade [49]

It sometimes feels like journalists lurch from one catastrophe (or hurricane, flood, wildfire, heat wave) to the next. But that can mean missing the bigger story: Disasters, increasingly linked to climate extremes, are often interlocking events, in which one system failure causes the next and the next. The latest Backgrounder explores three case studies, and how news media can focus attention on steps toward resilience.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [50]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [5]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Environmental Justice [51]
Environmental Politics [8]
Government [9]
Health [23]
Infrastructure [10]
Journalism & Media [11]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [52]
People & Population [24]
Planning & Growth [42]
Technology [48]
Water & Oceans [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [43]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [53]
International [30]
Asia [54]
Europe [55]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about Climate Resiliency — When a Disaster Becomes a Cascade [49]
How Climate Attribution Science Went Mainstream, and What It Means [56]

A growing body of research shows the links between global warming and extreme weather. And that knowledge can help communities prepare, and assign responsibility for damages. Veteran climate journalist Bob Berwyn lays out the science of climate attribution — for heat waves, flooding, wildfires and, ironically, crop-killing freezes — and discusses its implications for future climate change policy.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [57]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [32]
Agriculture [45]
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [5]
Economy & Business [6]
Environmental Justice [51]
Environmental Politics [8]
Environmental Studies [39]
Food [35]
Government [9]
Infrastructure [10]
Laws & Regulations [12]
Planning & Growth [42]
Policy [13]
Science [47]
Water & Oceans [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
International [30]
Europe [55]
South America [58]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about How Climate Attribution Science Went Mainstream, and What It Means [56]
Two Communities, Two Hazards and the Two Award-Winners Reporting Them [59]

Two outstanding features — one on air pollution from a local coke plant in Pennsylvania, another on deaths from a shellfish toxin in Alaska, and both focused on public health, neglected communities and environmental justice — are the subject of the new Inside Story Q&A. Society of Environmental Journalists’ award-winners Nancy Averett and Zoya Teirstein share their reporting insights and advice.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [20]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [33]
Climate Change [4]
Diversity [60]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Environmental Health [21]
Environmental Justice [51]
Environmental Studies [39]
Fish & Fisheries [22]
Food [35]
Health [23]
Journalism & Media [11]
People & Population [24]
Pollution [25]
Science [47]
Water & Oceans [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
Alaska and Hawaii [29]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [61]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about Two Communities, Two Hazards and the Two Award-Winners Reporting Them [59]

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