Publication Items

Saving Big Cats From Humans [1]

As expanded development on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula encroaches on prime wildlife habitat, big cats find it harder to avoid people, and many wind up dead. In this Inside Story Q&A, Liza Gross of Inside Climate News describes how she and photographer/editor Michael Kodas worked with a local cougar protection team to track a family of big cats to their den and through the area.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [3]
Environmental Health [4]
Environmental Studies [5]
Forests [6]
Journalism & Media [7]
People & Population [8]
Science [9]
Wildlife [10]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
Northwest (OR WA) [12]
Visibility:
Public [13]
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EPA Open Data Plan Is Worth Putting Into Action [14]

Public databases — a boon to good environmental reporting — have long been a priority for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as evidenced in its just-published “open data plan.” But as an analysis in the latest Reporter’s Toolbox notes, that pioneering approach may succumb to Trump 2.0 policies. What’s at stake and what’s already being lost.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [15]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [16]
Environmental Justice [17]
Environmental Politics [18]
Government [19]
Journalism & Media [7]
Policy [20]
Science [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about EPA Open Data Plan Is Worth Putting Into Action [14]
‘People Will Die’ — Stories Behind Trump Budget Bill [21]

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 [22]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [23]
Air [24]
Chemicals [25]
Climate Change [16]
Energy & Fuel [26]
Environmental Health [4]
Environmental Justice [17]
Environmental Politics [18]
Government [19]
Health [27]
Infrastructure [28]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [29]
People & Population [8]
Policy [20]
Pollution [30]
Waste [31]
Water & Oceans [32]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
Alaska and Hawaii [33]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [34]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about ‘People Will Die’ — Stories Behind Trump Budget Bill [21]
Ecofiction — A Novel Approach to Environmental Truth-Telling [35]

Fiction and journalism might seem like polar opposites, but some environmental journalists find writing ecofiction is an ideal complement to their day jobs. Drawing on journalistic research skills and curiosity, ecofiction lets them explore environmental issues from a different angle while enjoying an opportunity to unleash their imaginations. Journalist-fictioneers Valerie Brown and Meg Turville-Heitz on working across genre boundaries.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [36]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [7]
Military [37]
Science [9]
Technology [38]
Wildlife [10]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [39]
International [40]
Asia [41]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Ecofiction — A Novel Approach to Environmental Truth-Telling [35]
Coastal Flooding Challenges Cities Around the U.S. [42]

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 [43]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [16]
Disasters [44]
Infrastructure [28]
Journalism & Media [7]
Water & Oceans [32]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
Alaska and Hawaii [33]
California [45]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [46]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [47]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [48]
Northwest (OR WA) [12]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [34]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [49]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Coastal Flooding Challenges Cities Around the U.S. [42]
Lapses in Enforcement by Trump's EPA May Yield Local Environment Stories [50]

Enforcement has usually been serious business at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Now it seems many pollution laws are going unpoliced. TipSheet explains how the EPA’s own resources can help investigative reporters find violations, track regulatory actions and uncover nationwide patterns of corporate mismanagement.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [51]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [24]
Chemicals [25]
Economy & Business [52]
Energy & Fuel [26]
Environmental Health [4]
Environmental Justice [17]
Environmental Politics [18]
Government [19]
Health [27]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [29]
Pollution [30]
Waste [31]
Water & Oceans [32]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Lapses in Enforcement by Trump's EPA May Yield Local Environment Stories [50]
RFK Jr. Attacks Some Unwelcome Truth-Telling [53]

When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. threatened to forbid government scientists from publishing in leading medical journals, WatchDog was among those who paid heed to this worrisome move to censor science, and the harm it portends for environmental science, environmental journalism and, ultimately, public health. But as WatchDog warns, it could be just the tip of the iceberg.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [54]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Health [4]
Environmental Justice [17]
Environmental Politics [18]
Environmental Studies [5]
Health [27]
Journalism & Media [7]
Policy [20]
Science [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about RFK Jr. Attacks Some Unwelcome Truth-Telling [53]
NASA Portal Can Lead Reporters to Universe of Data [55]

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 [15]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [24]
Climate Change [16]
Environmental Health [4]
Environmental Studies [5]
Forests [6]
Government [19]
Journalism & Media [7]
Science [9]
Technology [38]
Water & Oceans [32]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
International [40]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about NASA Portal Can Lead Reporters to Universe of Data [55]
Inland Flooding — Reporting Resources From SEJ Publications [56]

With the death toll exceeding 100 from catastrophic flooding in Texas, the SEJ Publications team offers resources for flood reporting in your region. See TipSheets on inland flood risks [57], extreme rainfall [58], flood readiness [59], flood-resistant construction [60], building in flood plains [61] and flood-related hazardous waste threats [62]. Also, a Reporter’s Toolbox on mapping flood risk [63], a Feature on the inequities of flooding [64] and a special report, Covering Your Climate: The South [65]. Plus, get rain and flood headlines [66] from EJToday [67].

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [68]
Visibility:
Public [13]
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Solutions — and Death — in the Rainforest [69]

A project begun to explore ways to protect the Amazon seemed to end with the murder of the journalist who conceived it, along with his guide and research partner. But others picked up the mantle and completed a volume exploring ways to save this precious and rapidly disappearing ecosystem. BookShelf reviewer Elyse Hauser on how this unusual book tries to meet that promise.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [70]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [71]
Biodiversity [3]
Environmental Health [4]
Environmental Politics [18]
Forests [6]
Journalism & Media [7]
Natural Resources [72]
Planning & Growth [73]
Region:
International [40]
South America [74]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Solutions — and Death — in the Rainforest [69]

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