Publication Items

Data Bazaar at the EPA’s Environmental Dataset Gateway [1]

An intriguing portal to the vast data resources of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — the Environmental Dataset Gateway — could lead to many hidden story ideas, suggests the latest Reporter’s Toolbox. Find out more about the EDG and consider a handful of possible angles, including PCB transformer registrations, precipitation, heat-related hospitalizations and chemicals in consumer products.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [3]
Climate Change [4]
Government [5]
Journalism & Media [6]
Laws & Regulations [7]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Data Bazaar at the EPA’s Environmental Dataset Gateway [1]
Investigation Into Dry Oil Wells Reveals High Risks, Costs to Nearby Neighborhoods [10]

A casual query from an editor prompted an investigative reporter to pair up with a data journalism reporter at a partner news organization to dig into the risks that thousands of dry oil wells across California posed to surrounding communities, including many low-income Latino neighborhoods. How the resulting award-winning series came together, in an Inside Story Q&A with reporter Mark Olalde.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [11]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [12]
Environmental Health [13]
Environmental Justice [14]
Health [15]
Journalism & Media [6]
Pollution [16]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
California [17]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Investigation Into Dry Oil Wells Reveals High Risks, Costs to Nearby Neighborhoods [10]
An Endless ‘Silent Spring’? Find Out on a Spring Walk (With the Birders) [18]

To better understand troubled bird populations and the many forces undermining them, grab some binoculars and a notebook, and catch up with your local birders, including the burgeoning number of minority birders. That’s the advice from the latest TipSheet, which offers reporting resources and numerous story ideas, including the impacts of climate change, habitat loss, water access and the “insect apocalypse.”

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [19]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [20]
Chemicals [3]
Climate Change [4]
Diversity [21]
Environmental Health [13]
Journalism & Media [6]
Wildlife [22]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
International [23]
Canada [24]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about An Endless ‘Silent Spring’? Find Out on a Spring Walk (With the Birders) [18]
Should EPA Chemical Risk Info Remain a ‘Trade Secret’? [25]

The public’s right to know about toxic and hazardous chemicals is currently limited by trade secret rules that no longer serve any true purpose, argues the new WatchDog Opinion column. And a pending federal rulemaking is an opportunity for journalists to make the case to draw back the curtain, for the sake of their reporting and so that they can better cover their communities’ risks.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [26]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [27]
Chemicals [3]
Environmental Politics [28]
Government [5]
Health [15]
Journalism & Media [6]
Laws & Regulations [7]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Should EPA Chemical Risk Info Remain a ‘Trade Secret’? [25]
Global Satellite Data IDs Tensions Between Food Production, Biodiversity [29]

A recent study of global cropland expansion highlights several trends that are ripe with environmental news stories. One finding: New farm fields have taken over an area the size of Texas and California combined since the start of the century, an expansion primarily affecting biodiversity-rich natural ecosystems, with Africa leading the cropland boom. Freelancer Gabriel Popkin explores the latest data and the reporting possibilities.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [30]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [31]
Biodiversity [20]
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [32]
Economy & Business [33]
Environmental Health [13]
Environmental Justice [14]
Environmental Politics [28]
Environmental Studies [34]
Food [35]
Forests [36]
Journalism & Media [6]
Natural Resources [37]
People & Population [38]
Planning & Growth [39]
Science [40]
Technology [41]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
International [23]
Africa [42]
Asia [43]
Europe [44]
South America [45]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Global Satellite Data IDs Tensions Between Food Production, Biodiversity [29]
As Summer Worsens Air Pollution, Data Sources Help Coverage [46]

As the weather grows warmer, air pollution from smog typically worsens, as does smoke from spreading wildfires. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox spotlights the data that can help improve your coverage, whether via an easy-to-use report on the state of the air from a prominent nonprofit, or straight from various quality EPA data resources. Find help getting started on your air pollution coverage projects now.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [47]
Climate Change [4]
Environmental Health [13]
Environmental Justice [14]
Health [15]
Journalism & Media [6]
Pollution [16]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about As Summer Worsens Air Pollution, Data Sources Help Coverage [46]
There Are a Lot More Than 10 Endangered Rivers. Is One Near You? [48]

An annual list of endangered rivers is out, but with it the journalism just begins, since there are numerous troubled river systems, most likely including one near you. The latest TipSheet details how the endangered river list can serve as a template for local reporting and provides story ideas, questions to ask and resources to tap for your coverage.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [19]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [27]
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [32]
Disasters [49]
Energy & Fuel [12]
Environmental Health [13]
Environmental Politics [28]
Fish & Fisheries [50]
Food [35]
Journalism & Media [6]
Laws & Regulations [7]
Natural Resources [37]
Pollution [16]
Transportation [51]
Water & Oceans [52]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about There Are a Lot More Than 10 Endangered Rivers. Is One Near You? [48]
‘The Green Years’ — When the Environment Eclipsed Politics [53]

There was a moment within living memory when Democrats and Republicans came together — in a time of extraordinary political turmoil — to pass landmark legislation to clean U.S. waters, limit toxic substances and pesticides, and empower the government to protect the environment. BookShelf’s Nano Riley reviews a new book that explores that time, and which speculates on why things have changed.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [54]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [27]
Chemicals [3]
Environmental Politics [28]
Government [5]
Laws & Regulations [7]
Natural Resources [37]
Policy [55]
Pollution [16]
Water & Oceans [52]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about ‘The Green Years’ — When the Environment Eclipsed Politics [53]
EPA Moves To Eliminate Asbestos Risk to Human Health, But Its Legacy Remains [56]

A new ban is to be imposed on the last kind of asbestos still imported into the United States for use in commerce. But as the Issue Backgrounder explains, the regulatory back-and-forth over the substance by recent administrations won’t alleviate the biggest U.S. problem, which is the long history of its use in a wide range of building materials and other uses raising ongoing occupational risks.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [57]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [47]
Consumer [32]
Environmental Politics [28]
Government [5]
Health [15]
Infrastructure [58]
Journalism & Media [6]
Laws & Regulations [7]
Policy [55]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about EPA Moves To Eliminate Asbestos Risk to Human Health, But Its Legacy Remains [56]
Grantee Wades Into Surprising Blue-Green Algae Problem [59]

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 [60]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Environmental Health [13]
Fish & Fisheries [50]
Journalism & Media [6]
Natural Resources [37]
Pollution [16]
Water & Oceans [52]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [61]
International [23]
Canada [24]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Grantee Wades Into Surprising Blue-Green Algae Problem [59]

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