Publication Items

Mapping Toxic U.S. Hotspots Down to the Neighborhood Level [1]

A new project on toxic risks has yielded a tool making it far easier to use data from the Toxics Release Inventory to report on hotspots. Reporter’s Toolbox offers a guide to ProPublica’s impressive “Sacrifice Zones” special report, which maps cancer-causing industrial air pollution. Plus, join an in-depth virtual tutorial [2] on the ProPublica tool co-sponsored by the Society of Environmental Journalists.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [3]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [4]
Chemicals [5]
Environmental Justice [6]
Government [7]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
People & Population [11]
Pollution [12]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about Mapping Toxic U.S. Hotspots Down to the Neighborhood Level [1]
EPA’s PFAS Plan Likely To Generate News, If Not Fixes, in 2022 [15]

A government plan to address a class of so-called “forever chemicals,” widespread in the environment and implicated in human health effects, will pick up speed in 2022. But whether the effort will solve problems around PFAS remains to be seen. The latest TipSheet outlines the challenge, the EPA plan and smart ways to cover the story in your area.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [16]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [5]
Consumer [17]
Government [7]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Policy [18]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about EPA’s PFAS Plan Likely To Generate News, If Not Fixes, in 2022 [15]
U.N. Summit Lays the Table for Environmental Reporting on Food Systems [19]

After an 18-month buildup, a one-day U.N. Food Systems Summit earlier this fall generated hundreds of commitments to end global hunger and a dizzying array of alliances dedicated to the cause. Despite controversies surrounding the summit, this groundbreaking event highlighted opportunities for reporting on food and food systems. Award-winning agriculture journalist Chris Clayton shares his insights.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [20]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [21]
Agriculture [22]
Biodiversity [23]
Chemicals [5]
Climate Change [24]
Consumer [17]
Disasters [25]
Economy & Business [26]
Energy & Fuel [27]
Environmental Health [28]
Environmental Justice [6]
Environmental Politics [29]
Food [30]
Government [7]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Natural Resources [31]
People & Population [11]
Planning & Growth [32]
Policy [18]
Pollution [12]
Science [33]
Technology [34]
Waste [35]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
California [36]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [37]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [38]
International [39]
Canada [40]
Africa [41]
Europe [42]
Middle East [43]
South America [44]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about U.N. Summit Lays the Table for Environmental Reporting on Food Systems [19]
Will Animal-To-Human Disease Transmission Bring the Next Big Pandemic? [45]

The COVID-19 outbreak has left little unchanged — including how environment reporters do their jobs, given that many experts believe the disruption of the human-wild interface could be the source of the next deadly virus. The new Backgrounder makes the case in this analysis, looking at how societies — and journalists — handled this pandemic and must prepare for possible future outbreaks.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [46]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [22]
Biodiversity [23]
Disasters [25]
Environmental Health [28]
Forests [47]
Government [7]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
People & Population [11]
Science [33]
Wildlife [48]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
International [39]
Asia [49]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about Will Animal-To-Human Disease Transmission Bring the Next Big Pandemic? [45]
EPA Data Moves Toward Openness — Again [50]

Public data around environmental issues has been a thing at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for decades, ... except when it hasn’t. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox looks at how data transparency is back in fashion under the Biden EPA, and the many ways that environmental journalists can build on available datasets for their coverage.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [3]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Politics [29]
Government [7]
Journalism & Media [9]
Policy [18]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about EPA Data Moves Toward Openness — Again [50]
Will 2022 See the Start of Formal Negotiations Toward a Global Plastics Treaty? [51]

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 [16]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [21]
Air [4]
Chemicals [5]
Climate Change [24]
Consumer [17]
Economy & Business [26]
Environmental Health [28]
Environmental Politics [29]
Fish & Fisheries [52]
Food [30]
Government [7]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Policy [18]
Pollution [12]
Waste [35]
Water & Oceans [53]
Wildlife [48]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
International [39]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about Will 2022 See the Start of Formal Negotiations Toward a Global Plastics Treaty? [51]
Climate Risk Disclosure Guides Journalists, Not Just Investors [54]

A profound tightening of companies’ environmental risk disclosure requirements may be ahead, thanks to efforts by the Biden administration’s Securities and Exchange Commission. And the new WatchDog Opinion column argues that as fossil fuel firms position themselves as part of an environmentally sound future, journalists must act too — demanding full disclosure of corporate financial risks related to climate.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [55]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [21]
Climate Change [24]
Consumer [17]
Economy & Business [26]
Energy & Fuel [27]
Environmental Politics [29]
Government [7]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Policy [18]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about Climate Risk Disclosure Guides Journalists, Not Just Investors [54]
As Locales Move to Decarbonize Buildings, Will States Ban Gas Bans? [56]

While climate change is certainly a global phenomenon, conflicts over addressing it often turn on local concerns. Case in point: Community bans on the use of the fossil fuel methane (aka natural gas), which has in turn prompted some states to ban the bans themselves. The latest TipSheet explains the bans and how they play into the climate change debate, plus story ideas and resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [16]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [21]
Climate Change [24]
Consumer [17]
Energy & Fuel [27]
Environmental Politics [29]
Government [7]
Infrastructure [57]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Natural Resources [31]
Policy [18]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
California [36]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [37]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [58]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [59]
Northwest (OR WA) [60]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [61]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [38]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about As Locales Move to Decarbonize Buildings, Will States Ban Gas Bans? [56]
New Landsat 9 Offers Variety of Resource Stories [62]

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 [3]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [22]
Climate Change [24]
Environmental Health [28]
Environmental Studies [63]
Forests [47]
Government [7]
Journalism & Media [9]
Natural Resources [31]
Science [33]
Technology [34]
Water & Oceans [53]
Wildlife [48]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
International [39]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about New Landsat 9 Offers Variety of Resource Stories [62]
Climate Resiliency — When a Disaster Becomes a Cascade [64]

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 [46]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [24]
Disasters [25]
Energy & Fuel [27]
Environmental Justice [6]
Environmental Politics [29]
Government [7]
Health [8]
Infrastructure [57]
Journalism & Media [9]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [65]
People & Population [11]
Planning & Growth [32]
Technology [34]
Water & Oceans [53]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [61]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [38]
International [39]
Asia [49]
Europe [42]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about Climate Resiliency — When a Disaster Becomes a Cascade [64]

Pages