Publication Items

Home Insurance Likely To Be a 2024 Climate Story Near You [1]

In the first of a two-parter for our 2024 Journalists’ Guide to Environment & Energy, TipSheet looks at what climate-driven disasters mean for the home insurance market. Storms, floods and fire rip through communities, yet a federal insurance program falls short, lawmakers shy away from real reform and insurers grow hesitant to cover the risks, while homeowners often attempt to rebuild in the same problematic locales. Plus, see part two [2] on extreme weather and insurance.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [3]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [5]
Disasters [6]
Economy & Business [7]
Environmental Politics [8]
Government [9]
Journalism & Media [10]
Laws & Regulations [11]
People & Population [12]
Planning & Growth [13]
Policy [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
California [16]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [17]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [18]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Home Insurance Likely To Be a 2024 Climate Story Near You [1]
Wildfire DisInformation Becomes a State Weapon, Aided by AI [20]

How did the Lahaina wildfire spark an AI-driven influence campaign out of China? Perhaps a technological leap. Or perhaps, the new WatchDog Opinion column suggests, a natural evolution of a decades-old disinformation playbook with roots in a war against science and culminating in climate denial. A look at the disturbing prospects and a plea for journalists not to sidestep the phenomenon but to cover it.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [21]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [22]
Climate Change [4]
Economy & Business [7]
Energy & Fuel [23]
Environmental Politics [8]
Journalism & Media [10]
Policy [14]
Science [24]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
International [25]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Wildfire DisInformation Becomes a State Weapon, Aided by AI [20]
Unique Podcast Team Gives Voice to Troubled Communities Near Declining Salton Sea [26]

In the Coachella Valley east of Los Angeles, the massive Salton Sea is rapidly drying up, threatening vulnerable immigrant communities in a growing toxic environment. The Living Downstream podcast reported extensively on these hazards, winning third place in the Society of Environmental Journalists’ Awards for Reporting on the Environment’s explanatory reporting, small, category, in 2022. Inside Story spoke with one of the prizewinners.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [27]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [28]
Agriculture [29]
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [6]
Environmental Health [30]
Environmental Justice [31]
Environmental Politics [8]
Health [32]
Journalism & Media [10]
Natural Resources [33]
People & Population [12]
Water & Oceans [34]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
California [16]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Unique Podcast Team Gives Voice to Troubled Communities Near Declining Salton Sea [26]
Disabilities and Disasters — What Questions Should You Be Asking Planners? [35]

As hurricane season ramps up, how are the disaster planners considering those with disabilities in your community? Texas-based journalist Greg Harman shares the story of one group that sued their city over claims it failed to properly prepare. And he extracts some rules of thumb to help determine if emergency planners are taking those with disabilities into consideration where you are.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [36]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [28]
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [6]
Diversity [37]
Environmental Health [30]
Environmental Justice [31]
Environmental Politics [8]
Government [9]
Health [32]
Infrastructure [38]
Journalism & Media [10]
Laws & Regulations [11]
People & Population [12]
Policy [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [17]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [39]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Disabilities and Disasters — What Questions Should You Be Asking Planners? [35]
COP28 Will Be Earth-Shaping News in 2024 and Beyond [40]

When nations converge this fall for the latest round of annual talks on harnessing climate change, they meet at a crucial juncture. Will the increasingly dramatic impacts of global warming, and the prospects of worse, focus their attention enough to bring about progress? In this sweeping analysis, Backgrounder assesses the varied pressures at play at the coming COP28, along with tips for covering it, from up close or afar.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [41]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Energy & Fuel [23]
Environmental Health [30]
Environmental Politics [8]
Environmental Studies [42]
Government [9]
Journalism & Media [10]
Laws & Regulations [11]
Policy [14]
Science [24]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
International [25]
Canada [43]
Africa [44]
Asia [45]
Europe [46]
Middle East [47]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about COP28 Will Be Earth-Shaping News in 2024 and Beyond [40]
Waste Incineration May Put Toxics Into Local Air [48]

Sometimes on the environment beat, what seems like an old story is perpetually new again. That’s the case with waste incineration, finds the latest TipSheet. Rather than being reduced, incinerators are just being transformed, with the ongoing burning of plastics especially troubling for the environment and public health. Get the backstory on where the regulatory regime may have holes, plus key reporting angles and story ideas.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [3]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [28]
Air [49]
Chemicals [22]
Energy & Fuel [23]
Environmental Health [30]
Environmental Justice [31]
Environmental Politics [8]
Health [32]
Journalism & Media [10]
Laws & Regulations [11]
Pollution [50]
Waste [51]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Waste Incineration May Put Toxics Into Local Air [48]
Painful Process Underway of Regulating PFAS in Drinking Water [52]

Long-growing concern over dangerous “forever” chemicals has drawn the attention of federal and state policymakers, local communities and the utilities that provide their drinking water. But little about regulating PFAS will be quick or easy, making it a major environmental and public health story for years to come. Issue Backgrounder unfolds the regulatory moves, the politics and the larger implications of PFAS policy.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [41]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [22]
Consumer [5]
Environmental Health [30]
Environmental Politics [8]
Government [9]
Health [32]
Infrastructure [38]
Journalism & Media [10]
Laws & Regulations [11]
Pollution [50]
Water & Oceans [34]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Painful Process Underway of Regulating PFAS in Drinking Water [52]
Uncovering the Environmental Impacts of a Controversial Water Project [53]

Months spent gathering thousands of documents and talking to local residents led reporter Dheeraj Mishra to uncover the negative environmental impacts of a major hydro project in a water-scarce region of India. And his resulting investigative reporting got him noticed in the 2022 Society of Environmental Journalists’ 2022 awards contest. Mishra shares his insights in the new Inside Story Q&A.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [27]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Health [30]
Environmental Justice [31]
Environmental Politics [8]
Government [9]
Infrastructure [38]
Journalism & Media [10]
Natural Resources [33]
People & Population [12]
Planning & Growth [13]
Policy [14]
Pollution [50]
Water & Oceans [34]
Region:
International [25]
Asia [45]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Uncovering the Environmental Impacts of a Controversial Water Project [53]
Why Nobelists Are Joining the Fight Against Disinformation’s Dangers [54]

A recent gathering of Nobel laureates in Washington, D.C., including Filipina journalist Maria Ressa (pictured, left), highlighted the growing risks of disinformation — including on efforts to combat climate change — but also the rising sense of hope that comes from those who pledge to stand up to its challenge. This month’s WatchDog Opinion column shares a perspective from the event.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [21]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [28]
Climate Change [4]
Environmental Politics [8]
Journalism & Media [10]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
International [25]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Why Nobelists Are Joining the Fight Against Disinformation’s Dangers [54]
The Community We’ve Long Ignored [55]

Veteran environmental justice reporter Yessenia Funes this week launches “Voices of Environmental Justice,” her new SEJournal column. Each quarterly commentary will focus on spotlighting the perspectives of affected communities that environmental and climate journalists often ignore. For her inaugural entry, with Pride month nearing its end, a look at how climate change and environmental pollution exacerbate the already elevated health risks of LGBTQIA+ people.

SEJ Publication Types:
Voices of Environmental Justice [56]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [28]
Agriculture [29]
Climate Change [4]
Diversity [37]
Environmental Justice [31]
Environmental Politics [8]
Health [32]
Journalism & Media [10]
People & Population [12]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
California [16]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about The Community We’ve Long Ignored [55]

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