Publication Items

Targets on Their Backs … and Ours? Reporting on Immigrant Farmworkers [1]

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 [3]
Agriculture [4]
Environmental Justice [5]
Environmental Politics [6]
Food [7]
Government [8]
Health [9]
Journalism & Media [10]
Laws & Regulations [11]
People & Population [12]
Water & Oceans [13]
Region:
National (U.S.) [14]
California [15]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about Targets on Their Backs … and Ours? Reporting on Immigrant Farmworkers [1]
DOE Climate ‘Endangerment’ Report Sparks Stormy Retort [17]

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 [18]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [19]
Environmental Politics [6]
Environmental Studies [20]
Government [8]
Laws & Regulations [11]
Policy [21]
Science [22]
Region:
National (U.S.) [14]
International [23]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about DOE Climate ‘Endangerment’ Report Sparks Stormy Retort [17]
Coal Ash Is an Issue That Just Won’t Stay Buried [24]

Even as the number of coal-fired power plants declines in the United States, the dangerous coal ash byproducts they generate are found in dumps in every state, threatening to leach toxins into drinking water supplies. The latest TipSheet examines why the problem won’t seem to go away, and offers 10 top story ideas and resources for reporting on coal ash in your locale.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [25]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [26]
Environmental Health [27]
Environmental Politics [6]
Journalism & Media [10]
Laws & Regulations [11]
Natural Resources [28]
Pollution [29]
Waste [30]
Water & Oceans [13]
Region:
National (U.S.) [14]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about Coal Ash Is an Issue That Just Won’t Stay Buried [24]
Climate Solutions, for Some, May Not Be [31]

A small Louisiana community, home to the descendants of formerly enslaved Black people, continues to fight for its freedom many decades later, this time from a potentially polluting technology. FEJ StoryLog contributor Yessenia Funes recounts her journey to this Cancer Alley community, where a grant from the Fund for Environmental Journalism helped her tell the story of residents challenging a multibillion-dollar carbon capture plant.

SEJ Publication Types:
FEJ StoryLog [32]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Air [33]
Chemicals [34]
Climate Change [19]
Economy & Business [35]
Energy & Fuel [26]
Environmental Health [27]
Environmental Justice [5]
Environmental Politics [6]
Journalism & Media [10]
People & Population [12]
Planning & Growth [36]
Policy [21]
Pollution [29]
Science [22]
Technology [37]
Region:
National (U.S.) [14]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [38]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about Climate Solutions, for Some, May Not Be [31]
The Dark Side of ‘Bothsidesism’ [39]

Journalistic values — whether code of ethics-style values like truth, context and fairness, or news-style values like impact, novelty and human interest — are nothing to be shy about and can make for great journalism. But some values can be distorted and drag journalism down a dead end, argues the new WatchDog Opinion. Two environmental cases where false balance does damage.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [40]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [34]
Climate Change [19]
Environmental Politics [6]
Journalism & Media [10]
Region:
National (U.S.) [14]
International [23]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about The Dark Side of ‘Bothsidesism’ [39]
Sunshine State Weirdness, With a Solid Dose of Environment [41]

The story behind the story that captures the “real” Florida is the essence of a new volume from veteran journalist and author Craig Pittman. BookShelf editor Tom Henry writes that “Welcome to Florida: True Tales from America’s Most Interesting State” not only taps into the state’s rich vein of the weird but offers a hefty dose of environmental topics, from climate change to manatees.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [42]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [19]
Environmental Politics [6]
People & Population [12]
Pollution [29]
Water & Oceans [13]
Wildlife [43]
Region:
National (U.S.) [14]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [38]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about Sunshine State Weirdness, With a Solid Dose of Environment [41]
COP30 — Why It Won’t Save the Planet [44]

Just under two months from the start of the annual global forum for managing climate change — the United Nations’ conference of parties beginning Nov. 10 in Belém, Brazil — our Backgrounder analysis laments the vanishingly small chance that nations will agree on managing steadily rising greenhouse gas emissions. A look at the obstacles, plus COP30 reporting challenges, from hotel expenses to diplomatic spin.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [18]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [19]
Energy & Fuel [26]
Environmental Justice [5]
Environmental Politics [6]
Government [8]
Journalism & Media [10]
Policy [21]
Region:
National (U.S.) [14]
International [23]
South America [45]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about COP30 — Why It Won’t Save the Planet [44]
Walkability Index Helps Journalists Highlight Planning Issues [46]

Many local government decisions come down to a key factor: walkability. And that’s not just a question of transportation infrastructure. As the latest Reporter’s Toolbox notes, walkability is also an environmental consideration. To turn that simple truth into stories about the built environment, here’s a high-quality, mappable walkability index. How to use the database smartly, plus questions to ask that will get your reporting started.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [47]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [19]
Environmental Politics [6]
Government [8]
Infrastructure [48]
Journalism & Media [10]
People & Population [12]
Planning & Growth [36]
Policy [21]
Transportation [49]
Region:
National (U.S.) [14]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about Walkability Index Helps Journalists Highlight Planning Issues [46]
The Time To Make Local Stories With GHG Inventory Data Is Now [50]

If you’re thinking of reporting on major greenhouse gas emitters in your coverage area by using long-standing U.S. government data, better act fast — a key source of that information may soon disappear, warns the latest TipSheet. Find out who’s working to save the numbers, plus get more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [25]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [19]
Environmental Politics [6]
Environmental Studies [20]
Government [8]
Journalism & Media [10]
Policy [21]
Science [22]
Region:
National (U.S.) [14]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about The Time To Make Local Stories With GHG Inventory Data Is Now [50]
Trump Climate Science Denial Hinges on … Not Saying the Word [51]

A war on the facts behind climate change — and on the actions to address it — is well underway in the second Trump administration. The new WatchDog Opinion column takes the measure of the battlefront, eyeing key examples of the political onslaught, including a concerted effort to eradicate the very term itself. Regulations killed, research discredited, speech censored and more.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [40]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [19]
Energy & Fuel [26]
Environmental Justice [5]
Environmental Politics [6]
Environmental Studies [20]
Government [8]
Journalism & Media [10]
Laws & Regulations [11]
Planning & Growth [36]
Policy [21]
Science [22]
Region:
National (U.S.) [14]
Visibility:
Public [16]
- Read more about Trump Climate Science Denial Hinges on … Not Saying the Word [51]

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