Publication Items

The EPA’s Power Plant Rule … We’ll See You in Court [1]

A new federal rule to cut power plant pollution and carbon dioxide emissions promises to escalate a yearslong, highly partisan battle at the core of U.S. climate change policy. Our Issue Backgrounder lays out the shifting regulatory approaches from the administrations of George W. Bush to Joe Biden, and notes the legal tug-of-war that has heightened the importance of another big player — the Supreme Court.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Climate Change [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Politics [7]
Government [8]
Laws & Regulations [9]
Policy [10]
Pollution [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about The EPA’s Power Plant Rule … We’ll See You in Court [1]
‘Green’ Steel: Five Things To Know About the U.S. Transition [14]

Plans for two new U.S. facilities that will use hydrogen instead of coal to make steel hold the promise of decarbonizing this essential but dirty industry. But don’t expect overnight change. Reporter Maria Gallucci looks at the complexities of making the switch, from ditching the blast furnace to reducing pollution all along the supply chain.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [15]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [16]
Air [3]
Chemicals [17]
Climate Change [4]
Economy & Business [18]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Justice [19]
Environmental Politics [7]
Government [8]
Natural Resources [20]
Policy [10]
Pollution [11]
Science [21]
Technology [22]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [23]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [24]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [25]
International [26]
Europe [27]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about ‘Green’ Steel: Five Things To Know About the U.S. Transition [14]
New PFAS Drinking Water Rule Promises Local Stories [28]

New federal regulations governing a group of “forever chemicals” under the Safe Drinking Water Act — a rule years in the making — have important implications for local drinking water supplies and, per the latest TipSheet, local environment reporting. A look at the problem with PFAS, the complicated route to its regulation and more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [29]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [17]
Consumer [30]
Government [8]
Health [31]
Journalism & Media [32]
Laws & Regulations [9]
Policy [10]
Pollution [11]
Water & Oceans [33]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about New PFAS Drinking Water Rule Promises Local Stories [28]
Greenhouse Gas Inventory Data Helps Tell the Climate Story [34]

A massive data set that tracks greenhouse gas emissions in the United States is now newly updated, and the latest Reporter’s Toolbox calls it essential for informed reporting on U.S. climate policy. Its three decades-plus of measurements can help journalists track big emitters near them and from a variety of major sources ranging from landfill methane to industrial polluters.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [35]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [36]
Air [3]
Climate Change [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Health [6]
Government [8]
Journalism & Media [32]
Laws & Regulations [9]
Policy [10]
Pollution [11]
Transportation [37]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Greenhouse Gas Inventory Data Helps Tell the Climate Story [34]
Rapid Response Grant Yields Oil Patch Stories, Book Chapter [38]

Mid-pandemic, freelancer Erika Bolstad struck out from Oregon for the boom-bust Bakken oil fields of North Dakota, with cash from a grant, two story assignments and years of book research. She shares her experience on the road, dealing with COVID risks, tricky timing and a stubborn bureaucracy, as well as a generous well-plugger and supportive editors. Read the new FEJ StoryLog.

SEJ Publication Types:
FEJ StoryLog [39]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [5]
Journalism & Media [32]
Natural Resources [20]
Policy [10]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [40]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Rapid Response Grant Yields Oil Patch Stories, Book Chapter [38]
EV Charging Stations — Are They There Yet? [41]

For all the talk about the energy transition and the robust growth in electric vehicle sales, there’s one big reason for unease: getting charged. The new Backgrounder takes a deep dive on the state of EV charging stations in the United States, exploring Tesla’s diminishing dominance, coming charger standardization, charging levels, software and for-pay realities, plus the effects of government policy.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [30]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Politics [7]
Infrastructure [42]
Planning & Growth [43]
Policy [10]
Technology [22]
Transportation [37]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about EV Charging Stations — Are They There Yet? [41]
Spurt in Hydro Relicensing To Leave U.S. Awash in Environmental Stories [44]

Hundreds of hydropower dams in the United States will see their licenses expiring in the next decade, generating years-long federal relicensing processes. That prospect calls for close local and regional coverage of the complicated balance between renewable energy needs with negative environmental impacts. The latest TipSheet explains the licensing process and the dam backstory, along with a dozen story ideas and reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [29]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [16]
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [30]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Politics [7]
Fish & Fisheries [45]
Infrastructure [42]
Journalism & Media [32]
Laws & Regulations [9]
Natural Resources [20]
Policy [10]
Water & Oceans [33]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
California [46]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [23]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [47]
Northwest (OR WA) [48]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Spurt in Hydro Relicensing To Leave U.S. Awash in Environmental Stories [44]
Climate Crisis Makes for Real Fashion Emergency [49]

Fast fashion’s lack of sustainability has long been the subject of news media coverage. But now the realities of climate change mean that fashion reporting must be reimagined to include the lived environmental and human rights realities of workers making what we wear, writes contributor Yessenia Funes in the new Voices of Environmental Justice column. Ideas and resources for getting past simplistic fashion industry narratives.

SEJ Publication Types:
Voices of Environmental Justice [50]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [16]
Agriculture [36]
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [30]
Economy & Business [18]
Environmental Justice [19]
Health [31]
Journalism & Media [32]
People & Population [51]
Policy [10]
Waste [52]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
International [26]
Asia [53]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Climate Crisis Makes for Real Fashion Emergency [49]
Will Zombie Ag-Gag Laws Ever Really Die? [54]

Laws that make undercover journalistic investigations of animal agriculture operations illegal violate the First Amendment, right? Not so clear, laments WatchDog Opinion, which points out that while the Supreme Court appeared to have struck down such laws just last year, it may now revisit the issue. Why it should matter not just to environmental reporters but to all journalists.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [55]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [16]
Agriculture [36]
Environmental Politics [7]
Journalism & Media [32]
Laws & Regulations [9]
Policy [10]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [40]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [56]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [25]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Will Zombie Ag-Gag Laws Ever Really Die? [54]
Philly Steaks Out New Ground [57]

It just wouldn’t be the Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference recap without the waggish tales of SEJ’s resident wit, David Helvarg, who once again this year skewers the lot of us, sparing not a jot of our five days in Philadelphia. Read on and prepare to snicker.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [58]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [36]
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [59]
Economy & Business [18]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Politics [7]
Food [60]
Government [8]
Health [31]
Infrastructure [42]
Journalism & Media [32]
Natural Resources [20]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [61]
Policy [10]
Pollution [11]
Technology [22]
Transportation [37]
Waste [52]
Water & Oceans [33]
Wildlife [62]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [24]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Philly Steaks Out New Ground [57]

Pages