Publication Items

New Oil Train Regs Go Backward on Public's Right to Know Risks [1]

Since U.S. oil production started booming, the news has been full of tanker trains blowing up. Under a May 2014 emergency order, the Federal Railway Administration increased requirements that railroads disclose oil train routes. But a new regulation issued May 1, 2015, leaves the public — and firefighters — with less information about the risks they face. Photo: The latest oil train derailment and explosion, today, in ND/Curt Bemson via AP.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [3]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Laws & Regulations [5]
People & Population [6]
Planning & Growth [7]
Transportation [8]
Region:
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [9]
Northwest (OR WA) [10]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about New Oil Train Regs Go Backward on Public's Right to Know Risks [1]
From Classroom to Bookshelf: Publishing a DIY Guide to Local Environmental Issues [12]

In this excerpt from the latest issue of SEJournal (Fall), Webster University journalism professor Don Corrigan shares how he used his classroom as a focal point for generating material with student inquiry and invitations to local experts, resulting in publication of a guide to St. Louis' environmental issues — and how the book can serve as a template for other professors to write a book for other states or regions.

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ Academy [13]
Region:
National (U.S.) [14]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [9]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about From Classroom to Bookshelf: Publishing a DIY Guide to Local Environmental Issues [12]
Paragliding Photojournalist Arrested Near Kansas Feedlot [15]

Award-winning photojournalist George Steinmetz was arrested June 28, 2013, after flying a motorized paraglider over a cattle feedlot in Finney County, Kansas, while on assignment for National Geographic magazine.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Transportation [8]
Laws & Regulations [5]
Journalism & Media [16]
Agriculture [17]
Region:
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [9]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Paragliding Photojournalist Arrested Near Kansas Feedlot [15]
Federal Judge Limits PETA Video Display at Kansas State Fair [18]

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals had planned to display a video showing animals being slaughtered and instances of abuse. The fair board said that PETA could only show the video within its booth and out of public view, so that people would have to make a deliberate decision to see it.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [17]
Activism [19]
Region:
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [9]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Federal Judge Limits PETA Video Display at Kansas State Fair [18]
EPA Withdraws CAFO Database Rule [20]

EPA says it could instead compile a database partly from information collected by some states. But that information is often spotty and inconsistent — which will make it hard for EPA to compile it and even harder to make useful conclusions from it. And the withdrawal may make it harder to get the information disclosed.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Food [21]
Environmental Politics [22]
Agriculture [17]
Region:
Northwest (OR WA) [10]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [23]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [9]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [24]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about EPA Withdraws CAFO Database Rule [20]
Group Sues Interior for Failure to Disclose Correspondence with Wind Industry [25]

The American Bird Conservancy has gone to court after the Interior Department stonewalled its Freedom-of-Information-Act requests for correspondence between feds and the wind industry on how potential wind projects in 10 states might affect birds and bats.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Wildlife [26]
Environmental Politics [22]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Biodiversity [27]
Region:
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [28]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [29]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [30]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [9]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [24]
California [31]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Group Sues Interior for Failure to Disclose Correspondence with Wind Industry [25]
Iowa Outlaws Some Undercover Investigations As Other States Mull Bills [32]

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (pictured) signed the so-called "Ag Gag" bill into law March 2, 2012, making it a crime to obtain access to an agricultural facility "under false pretenses" — without defining "false pretenses." Does this apply to hidden cameras? Animal rights activists have often resorted to hidden cameras — and shared with news media photos and videos of shocking cruelty to animals.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [16]
Government [33]
Region:
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [9]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Iowa Outlaws Some Undercover Investigations As Other States Mull Bills [32]
Erionite, Like Asbestos, Can Cause Cancer [34]

The naturally-occurring erionite causes malignant mesothelioma and evidence suggests it is much more toxic than asbestos. Concern is rising as development that disturbs erionite deposits occurs in 12 western states.
SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [35]
Topics on the Beat:
Health [36]
Chemicals [37]
Natural Resources [38]
Region:
California [31]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [9]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [30]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [28]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Erionite, Like Asbestos, Can Cause Cancer [34]
Voluntary Sage-Grouse Protection Efforts Awarded $71 Million [39]

Greater sage-grouse are at just 3% of their historical numbers, and warrant protection, according to the Bureau of Land Management. But since other species are in even more dire straits, the birds haven't been declared a threatened or endangered species. The US Dept. of Agriculture money is a work-around aimed at saving the birds and their habitat.
SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [35]
Topics on the Beat:
Wildlife [26]
Biodiversity [27]
Region:
Northwest (OR WA) [10]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [30]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [9]
California [31]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Voluntary Sage-Grouse Protection Efforts Awarded $71 Million [39]
Projects in 6 States Selected To Help Pioneer 3 Biofuels [40]

USDA continues to expand its Biomass Crop Assistance Program that provides financial incentives for producers of various biomass products with the latest selected project areas for growing camelina in CA, OR, WA, and MT, poplar trees in OR, and switchgrass in KS and OK.
SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [35]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [4]
Region:
California [31]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [9]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [30]
Northwest (OR WA) [10]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [28]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Projects in 6 States Selected To Help Pioneer 3 Biofuels [40]

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