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]
Unique Podcast Team Gives Voice to Troubled Communities Near Declining Salton Sea [20]

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 [21]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [22]
Agriculture [23]
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [6]
Environmental Health [24]
Environmental Justice [25]
Environmental Politics [8]
Health [26]
Journalism & Media [10]
Natural Resources [27]
People & Population [12]
Water & Oceans [28]
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 [20]
One Grant, Multiple Stories [29]

Seattle-based correspondent Brett Walton has a habit of adding extra days to his reporting schedules. In this FEJ StoryLog, Walton shares how he used one such buffer to stretch a grant and produce not just one story on California’s small drinking water systems, but a second on the aftermath of wildfire on another town’s water system, plus finish a third pending project on household water debt.

SEJ Publication Types:
FEJ StoryLog [30]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [6]
Health [26]
Infrastructure [31]
Journalism & Media [10]
Water & Oceans [28]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
California [16]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about One Grant, Multiple Stories [29]
The Community We’ve Long Ignored [32]

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 [33]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [22]
Agriculture [23]
Climate Change [4]
Diversity [34]
Environmental Justice [25]
Environmental Politics [8]
Health [26]
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 [32]
The Seven Stages of Beach Exploitation (and Restoration) [35]

When most people think of coastal tourist destinations, they imagine beaches lined by palm trees and exclusive resorts. But those are exactly the kind of realities that contribute to the environmental and economic decline of coastal communities and their local residents, argues a new book. Contributing Editor Jenny Weeks has our review in the new BookShelf.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [36]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Environmental Health [24]
Natural Resources [27]
People & Population [12]
Planning & Growth [13]
Pollution [37]
Water & Oceans [28]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Alaska and Hawaii [38]
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]
International [39]
Mexico [40]
Africa [41]
Asia [42]
Australia & Oceania [43]
Central America & the Caribbean [44]
Europe [45]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about The Seven Stages of Beach Exploitation (and Restoration) [35]
From TV Meteorologists, More Straight Talk About Climate Change [46]

Reporters covering floods, fires and other weather-driven disasters sometimes hesitate to link these extreme events to climate change. But TV meteorologists increasingly see an opportunity — and a responsibility — to help local audiences better understand the connections. Their unique relationship with viewers makes it easier to get past partisan divisions, while innovative tools are providing new ways to communicate information.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [47]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [6]
Journalism & Media [10]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
California [16]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [48]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about From TV Meteorologists, More Straight Talk About Climate Change [46]
Heat Warning — Expect Extreme Temps To Be Local Story This Summer [49]

Some areas of the United States are hot and getting hotter, thanks to climate change and now the coming El Niño. But some areas have little history with extreme temperatures — and those places are among the ones to watch this summer for local and regional reporting. Plus, who are the most vulnerable in your community when it comes to heat waves?

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [3]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [6]
Environmental Justice [25]
Health [26]
Journalism & Media [10]
People & Population [12]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
California [16]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [50]
Northwest (OR WA) [51]
International [39]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Heat Warning — Expect Extreme Temps To Be Local Story This Summer [49]
On the Front Lines, When Wildfires Turn Personal [52]

Forest fires have grown increasingly dangerous in a warming climate, a subject freelance journalist Jane Braxton Little has covered extensively in recent years. But her reporting turned personal when the rampaging Dixie Fire destroyed her small California town. As she explains in the new Inside Story Q&A, the wildfire disaster gave her a perspective no reporter would wish for.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [21]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [6]
Forests [53]
Journalism & Media [10]
People & Population [12]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
California [16]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about On the Front Lines, When Wildfires Turn Personal [52]
Why Journalists Should Investigate the Twin Mental Health and Climate Crises [54]

The complicated interplay between climate change and trauma, poorly understood and little covered, is holding back the response by individuals and communities to the realities of the climate crisis, argues the head of a network of mental health and other organizations. Here’s what he has found when it comes to how climate-generated anguish is blocking climate solutions and what can be done about it.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [47]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [22]
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [6]
Environmental Health [24]
Environmental Justice [25]
Health [26]
Policy [14]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [55]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
California [16]
Northwest (OR WA) [51]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [18]
International [39]
Canada [56]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Why Journalists Should Investigate the Twin Mental Health and Climate Crises [54]
Is EV-Driven Demand for Lithium on Collision Course With Environment Concerns? [57]

The push to replace gas-guzzling vehicles with electric-powered alternatives is hitting significant speed bumps. The existing supply of lithium for batteries can’t keep up with demand, and new mining proposals often face opposition from area residents worried about local impacts. Radio reporter David Boraks has been covering one such conflict in North Carolina. He shares his insights and reporting tips.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [47]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [22]
Agriculture [23]
Air [58]
Biodiversity [59]
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [5]
Economy & Business [7]
Energy & Fuel [60]
Environmental Health [24]
Environmental Politics [8]
Government [9]
Journalism & Media [10]
Laws & Regulations [11]
Natural Resources [27]
Policy [14]
Pollution [37]
Technology [61]
Transportation [62]
Water & Oceans [28]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
California [16]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [63]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [18]
International [39]
Asia [42]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Is EV-Driven Demand for Lithium on Collision Course With Environment Concerns? [57]

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