Publication Items

Burgeoning National EV Trend Helps Drive Local Environment, Climate Stories [1]

The auto market is getting supercharged by California’s recent decision to require all-electric vehicle sales in a little over a decade. The latest TipSheet looks at how this big national trend will affect climate change by cutting CO2 emissions, how California came to have such an outsized impact on the U.S. market and how local environmental reporters can plug in for stories around their communities.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [5]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Environmental Politics [7]
Government [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Policy [11]
Pollution [12]
Transportation [13]
Region:
National (U.S.) [14]
California [15]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about Burgeoning National EV Trend Helps Drive Local Environment, Climate Stories [1]
Methane and Climate Change Toolbox [17]

Levels of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, have doubled in the past 150 years due to human activity, particularly from fossil fuels and extensive farming. As part of an ongoing Society of Environmental Journalists special project focused on covering climate solutions, check out a methane resource toolbox and stay tuned for a methane reporting tipsheet in the coming weeks. Plus, watch the recording [18] of an SEJ virtual webinar, Covering Climate Solutions: Containing and Monitoring Methane.

SEJ Publication Types:
Special Reports [19]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [20]
Air [3]
Climate Change [4]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Environmental Health [21]
Environmental Studies [22]
Government [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Natural Resources [23]
Policy [11]
Pollution [12]
Science [24]
Technology [25]
Region:
National (U.S.) [14]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [26]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [27]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [28]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [29]
International [30]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about Methane and Climate Change Toolbox [17]
New Environmental Justice Index Helps ID Vulnerable Communities [31]

Biden administration efforts to measure its response to environmental injustice have spurred the launch of a place-based database that scores individual communities on the issue. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox reviews the new government index and suggests that despite weaknesses, it is still useful as part of a suite of similar tools. Learn more about how to effectively use the new database.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [32]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Justice [33]
Environmental Politics [7]
Government [8]
Health [34]
Journalism & Media [9]
People & Population [35]
Policy [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [14]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about New Environmental Justice Index Helps ID Vulnerable Communities [31]
Climate ‘Censorship’ Raised in Disinformation Fracas [36]

A recent climate change disinformation kerfuffle involving House Republicans and White House climate czar Gina McCarthy (pictured, left) is an excellent reminder of how journalists can get caught up in the decades-long campaign to deny climate change, argues the latest WatchDog Opinion column. A warning about the effort to weaponize the idea of transparency when it comes to climate change.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [37]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Environmental Politics [7]
Government [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Policy [11]
Science [24]
Region:
National (U.S.) [14]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about Climate ‘Censorship’ Raised in Disinformation Fracas [36]
Keeping Up With Victims Displaced by Climate Disasters [38]

Disasters driven by climate change can leave a lot of people needing help or being displaced long term. But a key safety net and a central federal aid agency often accomplish little to help climate refugees, reports the latest TipSheet. Get the backstory, plus the outlook, along with questions and resources for stories in your community in the wake of climate disasters.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [39]
Environmental Justice [33]
Environmental Politics [7]
Government [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
People & Population [35]
Planning & Growth [40]
Policy [11]
Water & Oceans [41]
Region:
National (U.S.) [14]
California [15]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [28]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [42]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [43]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [29]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about Keeping Up With Victims Displaced by Climate Disasters [38]
WTO Deal on Fishing Subsidies May Reduce Ocean Overfishing [44]

A new World Trade Organization agreement to limit global overfishing may yield important stories for environmental journalists, as billions of people around the world rely on already heavily exploited fish stocks as their main source of protein. This Backgrounder offers details on the pact and how it tries to address the problem, while providing resources for your reporting.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [45]
Topics on the Beat:
Economy & Business [46]
Environmental Health [21]
Environmental Justice [33]
Environmental Politics [7]
Fish & Fisheries [47]
Food [48]
Government [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Natural Resources [23]
Policy [11]
Water & Oceans [41]
Wildlife [49]
Region:
National (U.S.) [14]
International [30]
Asia [50]
Europe [51]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about WTO Deal on Fishing Subsidies May Reduce Ocean Overfishing [44]
Reporting Ocean Stories Is Key to Blue Literacy, Planetary Health [52]

As part of a Society of Environmental Journalists publishing project focused on covering climate solutions, we take a closer look at ocean-based solutions. In this special tipsheet, ocean scientist and science writer Juli Berwald offers a primer on the climate-related challenges and possibilities in the global ocean’s physics, chemistry and biology. Plus, check out an expanded toolbox [53] with reporting resources and watch a recent SEJ webinar [54].

SEJ Publication Types:
Special Reports [19]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [55]
Climate Change [4]
Environmental Health [21]
Environmental Politics [7]
Environmental Studies [22]
Fish & Fisheries [47]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Natural Resources [23]
Policy [11]
Science [24]
Water & Oceans [41]
Region:
National (U.S.) [14]
International [30]
Antarctica & Arctic [56]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about Reporting Ocean Stories Is Key to Blue Literacy, Planetary Health [52]
Beat Reporter Looks to Get Ahead of the Story [57]

As Brazil’s wetlands burned and as the country illegally shipped wood from the Amazon and scaled back environmental enforcement amid the pandemic, award-winning journalist Jake Spring of Reuters was there, telling tough, sometimes dangerous stories. Spring shares insights into his “just the facts” reporting, including the surprises and the lessons, and offers some practical advice in this Inside Story Q&A.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [58]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Politics [7]
Forests [59]
Government [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Natural Resources [23]
Policy [11]
Region:
International [30]
South America [60]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about Beat Reporter Looks to Get Ahead of the Story [57]
How 'Rights of Nature' Is Recasting the Relationship Between Law and the Earth [61]

In 2006, a local government council in Pennsylvania concerned about sewage sludge dumping enacted the Western legal system’s first formal “rights of nature” instrument. Today, numerous countries have laws recognizing specific rights or even legal personhood for nature. As legal expert Alice Bleby explains, this new perspective arises from a wide range of contexts and plays out in many different ways.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [62]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [63]
Biodiversity [55]
Chemicals [64]
Climate Change [4]
Environmental Health [21]
Environmental Justice [33]
Environmental Politics [7]
Environmental Studies [22]
Fish & Fisheries [47]
Forests [59]
Government [8]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Natural Resources [23]
Policy [11]
Pollution [12]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [65]
Water & Oceans [41]
Region:
National (U.S.) [14]
California [15]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [66]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [27]
International [30]
Africa [67]
Asia [50]
Australia & Oceania [68]
South America [60]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about How 'Rights of Nature' Is Recasting the Relationship Between Law and the Earth [61]
EPA’s FOIA Report Updates Progress on Backlog Reduction [69]

The Freedom of Information Act offers critical access to journalists — that is, when it’s working well. The latest WatchDog Opinion digs into the latest reports from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to see how well it lives up to its FOIA requirements and finds that despite progress, the agency continues to fall short on important measures. Plus, insight into how to work the system.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [37]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Politics [7]
Government [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Policy [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [14]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about EPA’s FOIA Report Updates Progress on Backlog Reduction [69]

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