Publication Items

Collaborative Journalism Project Reveals Inequities in Escaping Climate Change Hazards [1]

When U.S. communities become unlivable due to climate change impacts, can residents count on government relocation assistance — and are those most in need of help actually getting it? Those questions kickstarted a year-long investigation led by three high-powered journalism organizations. Now they’re sharing their reporting resources toolkit and inviting other journalists to widen the coverage with more local stories.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Disasters [4]
Diversity [5]
Economy & Business [6]
Environmental Health [7]
Environmental Justice [8]
Environmental Politics [9]
Government [10]
Health [11]
Infrastructure [12]
Journalism & Media [13]
Laws & Regulations [14]
People & Population [15]
Planning & Growth [16]
Policy [17]
Water & Oceans [18]
Region:
National (U.S.) [19]
Alaska and Hawaii [20]
California [21]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [22]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [23]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [24]
Northwest (OR WA) [25]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [26]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [27]
Visibility:
Public [28]
- Read more about Collaborative Journalism Project Reveals Inequities in Escaping Climate Change Hazards [1]
New Kolbert Volume Addresses Value of Human Efforts To Control Nature [29]

When engineers reversed the Chicago River, they also upended a hydrologic system that years later required electrification to repel an invasive species threatening a major fishery. This is but one example from the latest book by New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert of the unintended consequences of human actions to dominate nature that may solve one problem only to create another. BookShelf contributor Gary Wilson has a review.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [30]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Environmental Health [7]
Fish & Fisheries [31]
Infrastructure [12]
Natural Resources [32]
Planning & Growth [16]
Policy [17]
Science [33]
Technology [34]
Water & Oceans [18]
Wildlife [35]
Region:
National (U.S.) [19]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [22]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [26]
Visibility:
Public [28]
- Read more about New Kolbert Volume Addresses Value of Human Efforts To Control Nature [29]
Author Shares Unorthodox Look at the Ways of Water [36]

How water moves through the global ecosystem and shapes our landscapes is the subject of a must-read new book by writer Erica Gies, according to BookShelf editor Tom Henry. A significant part of water’s story is how humanity invariably fails when trying to manipulate it. But hope may reside with Gies’ various “water detectives,” who explore how to “let water go where it wants to go.”

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [30]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Environmental Health [7]
Natural Resources [32]
Water & Oceans [18]
Wildlife [35]
Region:
National (U.S.) [19]
California [21]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [22]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [37]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [26]
International [38]
Canada [39]
Africa [40]
Asia [41]
Europe [42]
Middle East [43]
South America [44]
Visibility:
Public [28]
- Read more about Author Shares Unorthodox Look at the Ways of Water [36]
How 'Rights of Nature' Is Recasting the Relationship Between Law and the Earth [45]

In 2006, a local government council in Pennsylvania concerned about sewage sludge dumping enacted the Western legal system’s first formal “rights of nature” instrument. Today, numerous countries have laws recognizing specific rights or even legal personhood for nature. As legal expert Alice Bleby explains, this new perspective arises from a wide range of contexts and plays out in many different ways.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [46]
Biodiversity [47]
Chemicals [48]
Climate Change [3]
Environmental Health [7]
Environmental Justice [8]
Environmental Politics [9]
Environmental Studies [49]
Fish & Fisheries [31]
Forests [50]
Government [10]
Laws & Regulations [14]
Natural Resources [32]
Policy [17]
Pollution [51]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [52]
Water & Oceans [18]
Region:
National (U.S.) [19]
California [21]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [22]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [23]
International [38]
Africa [40]
Asia [41]
Australia & Oceania [53]
South America [44]
Visibility:
Public [28]
- Read more about How 'Rights of Nature' Is Recasting the Relationship Between Law and the Earth [45]
Grantee Wades Into Surprising Blue-Green Algae Problem [54]

A chance encounter with a social media post from a retired government official led environmental journalist Sharon Oosthoek on a virtual, pandemic-era journey deep into the waters of Lake Superior to chase down an algal bloom. In her contribution to FEJ StoryLog, Oosthoek shares how she leveraged the tip into a grant that allowed her and her TV channel partner to produce a multi-part text, video, engagement and teaching project.

SEJ Publication Types:
FEJ StoryLog [55]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Environmental Health [7]
Fish & Fisheries [31]
Journalism & Media [13]
Natural Resources [32]
Pollution [51]
Water & Oceans [18]
Region:
National (U.S.) [19]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [22]
International [38]
Canada [39]
Visibility:
Public [28]
- Read more about Grantee Wades Into Surprising Blue-Green Algae Problem [54]
Don’t Overlook Lead Paint Toxicity Stories in Your Area [56]

Lead poisoning of U.S. drinking water has been a big headline-grabber in recent years, but there’s an even bigger environmental justice crisis — toxic lead exposure from paint. The latest TipSheet reports that this overlooked school and housing issue is getting new attention, but solving it will be difficult and expensive. Get context, reporting resources and ideas to tackle the story in your community.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [57]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [48]
Consumer [58]
Environmental Justice [8]
Government [10]
Health [11]
Infrastructure [12]
Journalism & Media [13]
Laws & Regulations [14]
People & Population [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [19]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [22]
Visibility:
Public [28]
- Read more about Don’t Overlook Lead Paint Toxicity Stories in Your Area [56]
Curso de Intercambio Virtual Fomenta la "Competencia Global" Para Estudiantes de Periodismo [59]

Cuando los programas de intercambio para estudiantes de periodismo fueron cancelados a causa del COVID 19, el personal docente de dos importantes universidades – una en Estados Unidos y otra en Colombia- recurrió a su creatividad, mediante la construcción de un escenario de intercambio virtual colaborativo sobre asuntos medioambientales de preocupación para ambos países. La EJ Academy explica el funcionamiento de dicho intercambio y augura programas similares en el futuro.

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ Academy [60]
Topics on the Beat:
Diversity [5]
Environmental Justice [8]
Environmental Politics [9]
Journalism & Media [13]
People & Population [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [19]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [22]
International [38]
South America [44]
Visibility:
Public [28]
- Read more about Curso de Intercambio Virtual Fomenta la "Competencia Global" Para Estudiantes de Periodismo [59]
Virtual Exchange Course Fosters “Global Competency” for Student Journalists [61]

When COVID-19 shut down plans for journalism study abroad, faculty at two prominent universities — one in the United States and the other in Colombia — got creative, building out a collaborative virtual exchange focused on environmental concerns in the two countries. The latest EJ Academy explains how the virtual exchange worked, and the promise of similar programs in the future.

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ Academy [60]
Topics on the Beat:
Diversity [5]
Environmental Justice [8]
Environmental Politics [9]
Journalism & Media [13]
People & Population [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [19]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [22]
International [38]
South America [44]
Visibility:
Public [28]
- Read more about Virtual Exchange Course Fosters “Global Competency” for Student Journalists [61]
New Reporting Network Aims To Make Connections in the Mississippi Basin [62]

The Mississippi River and its tributaries drain more than 40% of the continent, but most coverage of environmental stories within the Mississippi Basin is localized and siloed. The recently launched Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk hopes to help news outlets provide region-wide reporting that contextualizes issues like climate change-driven flooding and the Gulf of Mexico dead zone.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [63]
Chemicals [48]
Climate Change [3]
Disasters [4]
Economy & Business [6]
Environmental Health [7]
Environmental Justice [8]
Fish & Fisheries [31]
Government [10]
Infrastructure [12]
Journalism & Media [13]
Pollution [51]
Transportation [64]
Waste [65]
Water & Oceans [18]
Region:
National (U.S.) [19]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [22]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [37]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [23]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [66]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [24]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [26]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [27]
International [38]
Canada [39]
Mexico [67]
Central America & the Caribbean [68]
Visibility:
Public [28]
- Read more about New Reporting Network Aims To Make Connections in the Mississippi Basin [62]
Biden Administration To Struggle With Environmental Justice in 2022 [69]

The history of environmental racism is a long one in the United States, far longer than the efforts to address the problem. But reporting on environmental justice continues to tick upwards, and an analysis in the latest Backgrounder points to promising progress, explaining why for journalists the year ahead may yield important stories, whether about future footholds or new missteps.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [70]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [46]
Air [71]
Climate Change [3]
Diversity [5]
Environmental Justice [8]
Environmental Politics [9]
Government [10]
Health [11]
Infrastructure [12]
Journalism & Media [13]
Laws & Regulations [14]
People & Population [15]
Planning & Growth [16]
Policy [17]
Pollution [51]
Waste [65]
Water & Oceans [18]
Region:
National (U.S.) [19]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [22]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [37]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [66]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [24]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [26]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [27]
Visibility:
Public [28]
- Read more about Biden Administration To Struggle With Environmental Justice in 2022 [69]

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