Publication Items

Orphans and Zombies — Reporting on Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells Across the Country [1]

For more than a century, oil and gas companies have been drilling — and abandoning — wells across the country, leaving hundreds of thousands to potentially leak pollutants into the air, water and soil. Climate and environment reporter Martha Pskowski looks at how funding and regulatory issues are impacting efforts to identify and plug these wells, and offers resources for drilling into their story.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [3]
Air [4]
Climate Change [5]
Economy & Business [6]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Environmental Health [8]
Government [9]
Health [10]
Journalism & Media [11]
Laws & Regulations [12]
Natural Resources [13]
Policy [14]
Pollution [15]
Technology [16]
Water & Oceans [17]
Wildlife [18]
Region:
National (U.S.) [19]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [20]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [21]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [22]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [23]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [24]
Visibility:
Public [25]
- Read more about Orphans and Zombies — Reporting on Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells Across the Country [1]
Grants and Contracts Data — Fuel for Journalist-Gumshoes [26]

At one time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was a reporter’s mecca for databases. Nowadays, not so much. But as the latest Reporter’s Toolbox points out, there remains a great government data source for journalists focused on environmental issues. Find out more about the official source for spending data on the U.S. government, including its superpower — search.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [27]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [9]
Journalism & Media [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [19]
Visibility:
Public [25]
- Read more about Grants and Contracts Data — Fuel for Journalist-Gumshoes [26]
Database of Flood Events Helps Cover Catastrophes, Past or Present [28]

A massive trove of mappable water data from the U.S. Geological Survey offers reporters resources to cover present-day flooding threats, compare them to past flood events or help prepare reporting for tomorrow’s disasters. According to the latest Reporter’s Toolbox, its various tools let you pinpoint immediate flooding, map future flood hazards and even configure phone alerts for breaking events.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [27]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [29]
Environmental Studies [30]
Government [9]
Journalism & Media [11]
Water & Oceans [17]
Wildlife [18]
Region:
National (U.S.) [19]
Visibility:
Public [25]
- Read more about Database of Flood Events Helps Cover Catastrophes, Past or Present [28]
Tapping Into COP30 To Cover Indigenous Issues [31]

COP30 negotiators from around the world gather next week in Belém, Brazil, at the mouth of the Amazon River. Our Voices of Environmental Justice columnist Yessenia Funes says it’s a vital opportunity to engage with the Indigenous peoples who help protect the vast rainforest region — even for environmental reporters not there in person. Here’s how to tell their stories.

SEJ Publication Types:
Voices of Environmental Justice [32]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [3]
Biodiversity [33]
Climate Change [5]
Economy & Business [6]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Justice [34]
Environmental Politics [35]
Forests [36]
Government [9]
Journalism & Media [11]
Natural Resources [13]
People & Population [37]
Planning & Growth [38]
Policy [14]
Pollution [15]
Water & Oceans [17]
Region:
International [39]
South America [40]
Visibility:
Public [25]
- Read more about Tapping Into COP30 To Cover Indigenous Issues [31]
Find Environmental Justice Stories With Grants Data [41]

Efforts under Trump 2.0 to cut funding for environmental justice programs may be the new reality, but the uncertain status of hundreds of Biden-era grants offers important local stories. And as Reporter’s Toolbox finds, a database that rescued federal grant information helps make that reporting possible, with coding by congressional district to put the conflict into political context.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [27]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Justice [34]
Environmental Politics [35]
Government [9]
Journalism & Media [11]
Policy [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [19]
Visibility:
Public [25]
- Read more about Find Environmental Justice Stories With Grants Data [41]
Will Your Town Pass the Electric School Bus Acid Test? [42]

A Biden-era plan to put billions into school buses, clean EV-style, could be in the rearview mirror under the Trump administration, reports the latest TipSheet. That’s despite the fume-free, greenhouse gas-scarce qualities that benefit the air and the climate, parents and kids. To get in the driver’s seat on this story, here are a half a dozen local story ideas, plus reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [43]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [4]
Climate Change [5]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Environmental Politics [35]
Government [9]
Health [10]
Infrastructure [44]
Journalism & Media [11]
Policy [14]
Pollution [15]
Technology [16]
Transportation [45]
Region:
National (U.S.) [19]
Visibility:
Public [25]
- Read more about Will Your Town Pass the Electric School Bus Acid Test? [42]
Why Media Consolidation Threatens Press Freedom, Democracy [46]

Speeding media mergers — the latest examples being Paramount’s hookup with CBS and its recent pursuit of CNN parent Warner Bros. Discovery — could have serious societal repercussions, argues WatchDog Opinion. Among them: the risks of growing government control and political censorship. But a glimmer of hope comes from another, quieter, revolution that might just be the saving grace for independent accountability journalism.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [47]
Topics on the Beat:
Economy & Business [6]
Government [9]
Journalism & Media [11]
Policy [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [19]
Visibility:
Public [25]
- Read more about Why Media Consolidation Threatens Press Freedom, Democracy [46]
Targets on Their Backs … and Ours? Reporting on Immigrant Farmworkers [48]

For years, state-sponsored programs have helped California farmworkers get much-needed access to clean water. But many immigrants now shun these services, afraid of exposure to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. As Circle of Blue intern Anahita Banerjee dug into this story, she discovered that their fear extended to speaking with journalists — and that ICE activities threatened her own safety.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [49]
Agriculture [3]
Environmental Justice [34]
Environmental Politics [35]
Food [50]
Government [9]
Health [10]
Journalism & Media [11]
Laws & Regulations [12]
People & Population [37]
Water & Oceans [17]
Region:
National (U.S.) [19]
California [51]
Visibility:
Public [25]
- Read more about Targets on Their Backs … and Ours? Reporting on Immigrant Farmworkers [48]
DOE Climate ‘Endangerment’ Report Sparks Stormy Retort [52]

When the Trump Energy Department issued a report this summer questioning a central precept of U.S. climate change policy, it kicked off an angry backlash from scientific experts who fear it undermines decades of peer-reviewed research — and the very basis for climate action. Backgrounder scrutinizes the DOE report and the climate skeptics behind it, as well as the furious response.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [53]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [5]
Environmental Politics [35]
Environmental Studies [30]
Government [9]
Laws & Regulations [12]
Policy [14]
Science [54]
Region:
National (U.S.) [19]
International [39]
Visibility:
Public [25]
- Read more about DOE Climate ‘Endangerment’ Report Sparks Stormy Retort [52]
Covering the Health Impacts of Extreme Heat — An Arizona Reporter Weighs In [55]

Before giving summer its send-off, consider that heat kills more people in the U.S. annually than any other weather-related disaster. Phoenix journalist Katherine Davis-Young is well acquainted with this human toll. Drawing on her own reporting experience, she looks at how to cover extreme heat in your community. Pro tip: Don’t wait until next summer to familiarize yourself with vulnerable communities and investigate local mitigation policies.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [5]
Disasters [29]
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Justice [34]
Government [9]
Health [10]
Journalism & Media [11]
Policy [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [19]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [24]
Visibility:
Public [25]
- Read more about Covering the Health Impacts of Extreme Heat — An Arizona Reporter Weighs In [55]

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