Publication Items

Will State, Local Government Replace Feds on Climate Change? [1]

Even if the incoming Trump Administration retreats from climate action, as many fear, state and local governments may fill the gap on climate policy. Our latest Issue Backgrounder takes a closer look, and offers sources and resources to help you cover the more localized climate stories that may result.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Climate Change [4]
Environmental Politics [5]
Government [6]
Laws & Regulations [7]
Policy [8]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
California [10]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [11]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [12]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [13]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [14]
Northwest (OR WA) [15]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [16]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [17]
Canada [18]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Will State, Local Government Replace Feds on Climate Change? [1]
Maine Law Hid Threats to Public from Oil Trains [20]

Maine passed a law in 2015 that allowed railroads to keep oil-train routing information from the public — over the governor's veto. In the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting's Pine Tree Watchdog, Dave Sherwood reports how the provision was a bait-and-switch.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [21]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [22]
Energy & Fuel [23]
Government [6]
Laws & Regulations [7]
People & Population [24]
Transportation [25]
Region:
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [11]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [26]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [12]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [13]
Northwest (OR WA) [15]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Maine Law Hid Threats to Public from Oil Trains [20]
Oregonian Reporter ‘Humanizes’ Harm [27]

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [28]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [23]
Natural Resources [29]
Transportation [25]
Region:
Northwest (OR WA) [15]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Oregonian Reporter ‘Humanizes’ Harm [27]
New Oil Train Regs Go Backward on Public's Right to Know Risks [30]

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 [21]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [22]
Energy & Fuel [23]
Laws & Regulations [7]
People & Population [24]
Planning & Growth [31]
Transportation [25]
Region:
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [26]
Northwest (OR WA) [15]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about New Oil Train Regs Go Backward on Public's Right to Know Risks [30]
Arrest of Four Near Hog Farm Tests Utah's "Ag Gag" Law [32]

One way to deal with bad press is to make it illegal. Exposés of inhumane conditions at feedlots and slaughterhouses are being made illegal by state legislatures that pass "ag gag" laws. Now a case in Utah is challenging whether industrial agriculture's claims of secrecy trump the eating public's right to know. Image: Sows in 7'x2' Smithfield Foods gestation crates. By Humane Society of the US [CC], 2010. [33]

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [21]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [34]
Agriculture [35]
Consumer [36]
Health [37]
Journalism & Media [38]
Laws & Regulations [7]
Pollution [39]
Region:
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [13]
Northwest (OR WA) [15]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Arrest of Four Near Hog Farm Tests Utah's "Ag Gag" Law [32]
Pacificorp Claims the Birds Its Turbines Kill Are Trade Secret [40]

Power company Pacificorp has gone to court to prevent the Interior Department from disclosing how many birds are found dead at its wind-energy turbine sites. AP reporter Dina Cappiello has been writing an investigative series on the birds, including eagles, killed at wind farms in the U.S. The series found that federal regulators have not prosecuted or penalized wind-energy companies when their turbines kill birds and — the government has helped keep the scope of bird mortality secret.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [21]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [41]
Energy & Fuel [23]
Wildlife [42]
Region:
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [13]
Northwest (OR WA) [15]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Pacificorp Claims the Birds Its Turbines Kill Are Trade Secret [40]
Washington Cities Map Crude-By-Rail Routes. Other States? [43]

Here's an idea: let people know where 100-car trainloads of crude oil might be threatening their safety. After the July 2013 Lac-Mégantic disaster that killed 47, people might want to know about this. And the Federal Railroad Administration officially agrees — saying railroads can't hide this information. Now the Association of Washington Cities has an online map for that.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [21]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [22]
Energy & Fuel [23]
Transportation [25]
Region:
Northwest (OR WA) [15]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Washington Cities Map Crude-By-Rail Routes. Other States? [43]
Getting Past Park Service PIO Harder Than 13-Mile Hike [44]

It's true — some public information officers are really paranoid. High Country News reporter Tristan Baurick, trying to report on preservation of a historic chalet in Olympic National Park, found "a bizarre blockade on press freedom, the likes of which I’d never experienced outside a military base or murder scene."

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [21]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Politics [5]
Laws & Regulations [7]
Natural Resources [29]
Transportation [25]
Region:
Northwest (OR WA) [15]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Getting Past Park Service PIO Harder Than 13-Mile Hike [44]
Peace Group Calls for NEPA Disclosure on Construction at Bangor Base [45]

Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action wants higher courts to hear its argument that the Navy is required by the National Environmental Policy Act to disclose more information about the impacts of a nuclear submarine facility upgrade at the Kitsap-Bangor Naval Base in Washington state, especially the risk of explosion.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [21]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [7]
Military [46]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [47]
Region:
Northwest (OR WA) [15]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Peace Group Calls for NEPA Disclosure on Construction at Bangor Base [45]
Toxic Tank Cars? There's an App for That [48]

When the Oregon government refused to tell her about oil trains, Eugene Weekly environment reporter Camilla Mortensen (pictured) learned about them from a train-hopping local cinematographer. Now you can roam the freight yards with your camera and know what you are looking at. And/or download the UN Number app.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [21]
Topics on the Beat:
Transportation [25]
Disasters [22]
Chemicals [49]
Region:
Northwest (OR WA) [15]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Toxic Tank Cars? There's an App for That [48]

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