Publication Items

What Will a Second Trump Term Mean for Environmental Justice? [1]

An incoming Trump administration hostile to the very idea of environmental justice likely means the rollback of numerous policies and regulations designed to protect disadvantaged communities, cuts to an important “whole-of-government” initiative and downsizing of key federal environmental justice offices. The latest EJ TransitionWatch examines what’s at stake. And for more, see our Topics on the Beat page on environmental justice [2].

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ TransitionWatch [3]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [4]
Climate Change [5]
Environmental Justice [6]
Environmental Politics [7]
Government [8]
Health [9]
Infrastructure [10]
Laws & Regulations [11]
People & Population [12]
Policy [13]
Pollution [14]
Waste [15]
Water & Oceans [16]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
Visibility:
Public [18]
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Trump’s Public Health Agency Picks, Looking Peaked? [19]

Public health is an environmental story (think links between infectious disease and climate change, for example). So Trump administration nominees to head leading U.S. public health agencies — including vaccine skeptics, COVID-19 contrarians and physicians with little public health experience — are a story for environmental journalists to watch closely. The latest EJ TransitionWatch helps with a rundown of five top picks. Plus, the latest health headlines [9] from EJ Today.

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ TransitionWatch [3]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [5]
Environmental Politics [7]
Government [8]
Health [9]
People & Population [12]
Policy [13]
Science [20]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about Trump’s Public Health Agency Picks, Looking Peaked? [19]
Is Fluoride Facing Phaseout in Your Community’s Drinking Water? [21]

Fluoridated drinking water has helped limit tooth decay in the United States for decades. But that could come to an end in the Trump administration, if fluoride nonfan Robert F. Kennedy Jr., slated to head Health and Human Services, has his way. In the first installment of SEJournal’s new weekly EJ TransitionWatch column, we examine the challenge to this public health success story. Plus, questions to ask and resources for your reporting.

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ TransitionWatch [3]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [22]
Chemicals [23]
Consumer [24]
Environmental Politics [7]
Government [8]
Health [9]
Infrastructure [10]
Journalism & Media [25]
Laws & Regulations [11]
People & Population [12]
Policy [13]
Science [20]
Water & Oceans [16]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about Is Fluoride Facing Phaseout in Your Community’s Drinking Water? [21]
When Disasters Hit, Nursing Homes Can Be Disasters Waiting To Happen [26]

In any disaster, among the most vulnerable populations are the residents of nursing homes. Yet many communities may simply not be ready to protect them, despite a complex patchwork of state, federal and local regulatory oversight. That means environmental journalists should get on the case, reporting the risk in their locales, advises the latest TipSheet. Insights, plus a dozen story ideas and reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [27]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [5]
Disasters [28]
Environmental Justice [6]
Health [9]
Journalism & Media [25]
People & Population [12]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [29]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about When Disasters Hit, Nursing Homes Can Be Disasters Waiting To Happen [26]
How Climate Change Complicates the Refugee Crisis [30]

The displacement of populations by climate impacts, while not a new phenomenon in human history, is worsening in the face of global warming’s extreme weather patterns. Yet the extensive international regime to aid refugees doesn’t cover those migrating due to flooding, drought, natural disasters or climate change. Backgrounder considers the implications and how nations will respond to the new realities.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [31]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [5]
Disasters [28]
Environmental Politics [7]
People & Population [12]
Policy [13]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
California [32]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [33]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [34]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [29]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [35]
International [36]
Mexico [37]
Africa [38]
Antarctica & Arctic [39]
Asia [40]
Central America & the Caribbean [41]
Europe [42]
Middle East [43]
South America [44]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about How Climate Change Complicates the Refugee Crisis [30]
New-Look Landslide Risk Database Captures Potential Human Costs [45]

Susceptibility to landslides is more on the minds of environmental reporters, especially in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which caused hundreds of them. To get a better read on local landslide risk for local stories, Reporter’s Toolbox recommends an enhanced resource from the U.S. Geological Survey, which layers the risk data into easily readable map form.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [46]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [5]
Disasters [28]
Environmental Studies [47]
Journalism & Media [25]
People & Population [12]
Science [20]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
Northwest (OR WA) [48]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [29]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about New-Look Landslide Risk Database Captures Potential Human Costs [45]
Future of Justice40 Program Hangs in Balance [49]

A Biden administration initiative that commits to allocating 40% of federal investments to disadvantaged communities plagued by overpollution is an environmental justice breakthrough, writes columnist Yessenia Funes. But it’s also a program with weaknesses, such as how it factors in race or keeps track of impacts. What is Justice40, what has it missed and what is its future?

SEJ Publication Types:
Voices of Environmental Justice [50]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [22]
Air [4]
Chemicals [23]
Climate Change [5]
Environmental Justice [6]
Environmental Politics [7]
Government [8]
Health [9]
Infrastructure [10]
Laws & Regulations [11]
People & Population [12]
Policy [13]
Pollution [14]
Waste [15]
Water & Oceans [16]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about Future of Justice40 Program Hangs in Balance [49]
Looking for Environmental Justice Through the Smog [51]

A serious air pollutant prevalent in underserved communities, Superfund hazardous waste sites nearby, public drinking water systems out of compliance. All are new or enhanced insights found in an improved version of the federal government’s EJScreen data tool. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox reviews the changes and how they can be used to tell stories of real people’s daily lives.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [46]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [4]
Chemicals [23]
Environmental Justice [6]
Government [8]
Health [9]
Journalism & Media [25]
Laws & Regulations [11]
People & Population [12]
Pollution [14]
Transportation [52]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about Looking for Environmental Justice Through the Smog [51]
Investigation Explores Dueling Narratives for Addressing Climate Change [53]

Is carbon capture a climate solution or a dangerous distraction? That was the question that Inside Climate News reporter Nicholas Kusnetz asked in his award-winning explanatory series, “Pipe Dreams.” For Inside Story, Kusnetz talks of the challenges of writing about a technology that largely doesn’t yet exist, and the variety of story forms he used to explore the reality of industry promises.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [54]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [5]
Economy & Business [55]
Energy & Fuel [56]
Environmental Justice [6]
Environmental Politics [7]
Government [8]
Infrastructure [10]
Journalism & Media [25]
Laws & Regulations [11]
Natural Resources [57]
People & Population [12]
Policy [13]
Pollution [14]
Technology [58]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [35]
International [36]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about Investigation Explores Dueling Narratives for Addressing Climate Change [53]
Making Sense of Jewish Perspectives on the Climate Story [59]

American Jews are heavily involved in climate action in both the political and civic realms. But current events in Israel and Gaza can make it hard for U.S. journalists to cover environmental stories important to Jews at home or abroad. Jewish freelancer Ethan Brown on differences and synergies between Israeli and American Jewish environmentalism and how to approach stories within each community.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [60]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [22]
Chemicals [23]
Climate Change [5]
Disasters [28]
Environmental Health [61]
Environmental Justice [6]
Environmental Politics [7]
Forests [62]
Government [8]
Journalism & Media [25]
Military [63]
People & Population [12]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [64]
Region:
National (U.S.) [17]
International [36]
Middle East [43]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about Making Sense of Jewish Perspectives on the Climate Story [59]

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