Publication Items

‘People Will Die’ — Stories Behind Trump Budget Bill [1]

The Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” is anything but, especially in its unraveling of efforts to weave environmental and climate justice into American society, argues the new Voices of Environmental Justice. In her latest column, writer Yessenia Funes calls on journalists to report its ramifications not just for the planet but for the most vulnerable people living on it. Here are key stories to start with.

SEJ Publication Types:
Voices of Environmental Justice [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Air [4]
Chemicals [5]
Climate Change [6]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Justice [9]
Environmental Politics [10]
Government [11]
Health [12]
Infrastructure [13]
Journalism & Media [14]
Laws & Regulations [15]
People & Population [16]
Policy [17]
Pollution [18]
Waste [19]
Water & Oceans [20]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
Alaska and Hawaii [22]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [23]
Visibility:
Public [24]
- Read more about ‘People Will Die’ — Stories Behind Trump Budget Bill [1]
Coastal Flooding Challenges Cities Around the U.S. [25]

The United States has nearly 100,000 miles of coastline and much of it is at risk of flooding. But what that inundation looks like varies widely from place to place. From storm surges to land subsidence, the latest Backgrounder details the different types of flooding and the threats they pose to coastal communities, especially sea level cities.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [26]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [6]
Disasters [27]
Infrastructure [13]
Journalism & Media [14]
Water & Oceans [20]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
Alaska and Hawaii [22]
California [28]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [29]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [30]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [31]
Northwest (OR WA) [32]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [23]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [33]
Visibility:
Public [24]
- Read more about Coastal Flooding Challenges Cities Around the U.S. [25]
NASA Portal Can Lead Reporters to Universe of Data [34]

For environmental journalists looking for data riches to help tell their stories — whether about urban heat islands, sea-surface temperatures or air pollution — NASA has the satellites whose sensors capture insights galore. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox offers an introduction to the U.S. space agency’s incredibly extensive data portal, and how to get started amid the wealth of information (caveat: before it’s gone).

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [35]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [4]
Climate Change [6]
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Studies [36]
Forests [37]
Government [11]
Journalism & Media [14]
Science [38]
Technology [39]
Water & Oceans [20]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
International [40]
Visibility:
Public [24]
- Read more about NASA Portal Can Lead Reporters to Universe of Data [34]
Rethinking Forest Management in the Pyrocene [41]

Recent urban-interface infernos, fueled by climate change, leave no doubt that we have entered the age of runaway fire. Writer and ecologist Lauren Oakes writes that large-scale combustion is permanently reshaping ecosystems and societies as we learn to live with wildfire, not just fight it. Instead of perpetuating problematic approaches to forest management, experts call for confronting the root causes of this crisis and adopting science-informed responses.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [42]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [6]
Disasters [27]
Environmental Politics [10]
Environmental Studies [36]
Forests [37]
Government [11]
Health [12]
Infrastructure [13]
Journalism & Media [14]
Laws & Regulations [15]
Natural Resources [43]
Policy [17]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
California [28]
Northwest (OR WA) [32]
International [40]
Canada [44]
Australia & Oceania [45]
Europe [46]
Visibility:
Public [24]
- Read more about Rethinking Forest Management in the Pyrocene [41]
Will DOGE Evaporate Crucial Water Data? [47]

Streamflow data gathered by thousands of U.S. Geological Survey gauges helps track the country’s floods and droughts. But it may be lost if the Trump administration follows up on a decision not to renew leases of USGS water science centers that read the gauges and disseminate the measurements. Reporter’s Toolbox on the value of this database and the risk of its loss.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [35]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [48]
Climate Change [6]
Disasters [27]
Environmental Politics [10]
Environmental Studies [36]
Government [11]
Natural Resources [43]
Policy [17]
Science [38]
Water & Oceans [20]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
California [28]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [23]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [33]
Visibility:
Public [24]
- Read more about Will DOGE Evaporate Crucial Water Data? [47]
From Fear to Fascination — A New Insect Narrative [49]

Media coverage of “bugs” is often sensationalistic and centered on fear and disgust. But conservation photographer and writer Danae Wolfe says journalists should be highlighting the importance, beauty and plight of insects and spiders. Reporting that offers alternative perspectives on these essential creatures can inspire curiosity and admiration, and encourage efforts to protect them. Wolfe on why to write about insects.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [42]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Agriculture [48]
Biodiversity [50]
Chemicals [5]
Climate Change [6]
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Studies [36]
Food [51]
Forests [37]
Journalism & Media [14]
Pollution [18]
Science [38]
Wildlife [52]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
International [40]
Visibility:
Public [24]
- Read more about From Fear to Fascination — A New Insect Narrative [49]
Analysis: Trump Administration Attacks Science, As Environment Suffers [53]

It’s not just scientists who are being lost to the new administration’s extensive firings of federal workers. A Backgrounder Analysis argues it’s the science itself. It’s happening at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, but also across agencies that conduct research to protect health and the environment, whether around toxic chemicals or on the battleground of climate change science. A frank look at the reality and what’s being lost for journalists and the communities they serve.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [26]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [5]
Climate Change [6]
Economy & Business [54]
Environmental Politics [10]
Environmental Studies [36]
Government [11]
Health [12]
Journalism & Media [14]
Laws & Regulations [15]
Policy [17]
Science [38]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
Visibility:
Public [24]
- Read more about Analysis: Trump Administration Attacks Science, As Environment Suffers [53]
Why Now’s the Time To Tell a Good Fish Tale [55]

With fishing season underway across the United States, reporters have a line to an array of great, local environmental stories, whether about the recreation and tourism industries or overfishing and the health of regional ecosystems. The latest TipSheet has more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources to help you reel in an angle of your own.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [56]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Biodiversity [50]
Climate Change [6]
Environmental Health [8]
Fish & Fisheries [57]
Food [51]
Journalism & Media [14]
Natural Resources [43]
Water & Oceans [20]
Wildlife [52]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
Visibility:
Public [24]
- Read more about Why Now’s the Time To Tell a Good Fish Tale [55]
In West Bank, Hope for Future in Link Between Land and People [58]

On a tour of the West Bank this spring, Yessenia Funes found a region where the relationship between land and people serves as a counterweight to occupation and the threat of violence. For her Voices of Environmental Justice column, Funes exhorts fellow environment journalists to report on that struggle, through stories that touch on wildlife, wildfire, food, climate and more.

SEJ Publication Types:
Voices of Environmental Justice [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [48]
Climate Change [6]
Environmental Justice [9]
Environmental Politics [10]
Food [51]
Government [11]
Journalism & Media [14]
Military [59]
People & Population [16]
Policy [17]
Water & Oceans [20]
Region:
International [40]
Middle East [60]
Visibility:
Public [24]
- Read more about In West Bank, Hope for Future in Link Between Land and People [58]
Environmentalists Will Be Seeing Trump Forces in Court — Often [61]

The judiciary is looking to become a major environmental battleground for journalists to watch in the coming months and years, as activists confront the Trump administration over its deregulatory campaign. The new Issue Backgrounder maps out the action, explaining how key laws foster citizen suits, while numerous nonprofits are staffed up to sue. Plus, some ways to track the action.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [26]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Air [4]
Biodiversity [50]
Chemicals [5]
Climate Change [6]
Consumer [62]
Environmental Justice [9]
Environmental Politics [10]
Government [11]
Infrastructure [13]
Journalism & Media [14]
Laws & Regulations [15]
Natural Resources [43]
Policy [17]
Pollution [18]
Waste [19]
Water & Oceans [20]
Wildlife [52]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
Visibility:
Public [24]
- Read more about Environmentalists Will Be Seeing Trump Forces in Court — Often [61]

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