Publication Items

Risk Data Is There Despite Efforts To Hide It [1]

Hazmat risk data has long been subject to blackout efforts by industry. And now, Trump administration allies may change the rules to make existing information even harder to get. But Reporter’s Toolbox knows where journalists can still find the goods to support their reporting. Read on to learn about risks to the program in question — and Toolbox workarounds.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Chemicals [4]
Disasters [5]
Environmental Politics [6]
Government [7]
Journalism & Media [8]
Laws & Regulations [9]
Policy [10]
Pollution [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Risk Data Is There Despite Efforts To Hide It [1]
#SEJ2026 Live — Coverage of Conference Tours [14]

SEJournal is providing full coverage of all eight of the day-long tours from the annual Society of Environmental Journalists’ conference, April 15-18, in Chicago. In Part 2, contributors Meg Duff [15], Nathaniel Eisen [16], Nhung Nguyen [17] and Marlowe Starling [18] provide detailed reports from tours focused on the transitioning steel industry, microgrids, climate-friendly crop practices and evolving Midwestern agricultural systems.

Also check out the first round of tour coverage and read all the great work [14] from our team of early-career freelance journalists, part of SEJournal’s live #SEJ2026 Live conference reporting.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [19]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [20]
Agriculture [21]
Air [3]
Biodiversity [22]
Chemicals [4]
Climate Change [23]
Consumer [24]
Economy & Business [25]
Energy & Fuel [26]
Environmental Health [27]
Environmental Justice [28]
Environmental Politics [6]
Environmental Studies [29]
Food [30]
Forests [31]
Government [7]
Health [32]
Infrastructure [33]
Journalism & Media [8]
Laws & Regulations [9]
Natural Resources [34]
People & Population [35]
Planning & Growth [36]
Policy [10]
Pollution [11]
Science [37]
Technology [38]
Transportation [39]
Waste [40]
Water & Oceans [41]
Wildlife [42]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [43]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about #SEJ2026 Live — Coverage of Conference Tours [14]
War and Pizza — #SEJ2026 in Chicago [44]

Nearly as rejuvenating as attending the Society of Environmental Journalists’ annual gathering is perusing the après-conference spoof by contributing quipster David Helvarg. While it seemed he was mostly there unabashedly preselling his forthcoming book, he somehow found time to send up SEJ’s earnest sessions, lambast its blown-up tours and rib its beat dinners. Read his Chicago roast.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [19]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [21]
Air [3]
Chemicals [4]
Climate Change [23]
Economy & Business [25]
Energy & Fuel [26]
Environmental Health [27]
Environmental Justice [28]
Environmental Politics [6]
Fish & Fisheries [45]
Government [7]
Health [32]
Journalism & Media [8]
Natural Resources [34]
Policy [10]
Pollution [11]
Science [37]
Waste [40]
Water & Oceans [41]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [43]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about War and Pizza — #SEJ2026 in Chicago [44]
EPA Enforcement Falls to Record Low Under Trump 2.0 [46]

The enforcement of environmental laws suffered a dramatic collapse during the Trump administration’s first year, several studies have found. Even the most serious violations, typically referred to the Department of Justice, are left unpursued because of DOJ staffing declines. The latest Backgrounder has the details, a look at the administration’s rationale for the decline and the implications for the environment and public health.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [47]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Chemicals [4]
Climate Change [23]
Economy & Business [25]
Environmental Health [27]
Environmental Politics [6]
Environmental Studies [29]
Government [7]
Health [32]
Journalism & Media [8]
Laws & Regulations [9]
Policy [10]
Pollution [11]
Waste [40]
Water & Oceans [41]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about EPA Enforcement Falls to Record Low Under Trump 2.0 [46]
Database Details Planetary Asset — Canada’s Forests [48]

They’re a carbon sink, a playground and a major market, but also a source of smoke pollution and pest infestation. Millions of acres of Canadian forest are a big North American story, and the latest Reporter’s Toolbox points you to a central data source that can help quantify, analyze and visualize the numbers and see the proverbial forest for the trees.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [21]
Air [3]
Climate Change [23]
Economy & Business [25]
Energy & Fuel [26]
Environmental Health [27]
Environmental Politics [6]
Forests [31]
Natural Resources [34]
Policy [10]
Pollution [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
International [49]
Canada [50]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Database Details Planetary Asset — Canada’s Forests [48]
A Town Derailed, a Trust Obtained [51]

The devastating 2023 East Palestine, Ohio, toxic train derailment left a legacy of illness and a town torn by competing understandings of the contamination’s aftereffects. A yearlong reporting initiative with photojournalist Rebecca Kiger and Time magazine writer Alejandro de la Garza worked to gain the community’s confidence and tell its story. Their prize-winning feature, in the latest Inside Story Q&A.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [52]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Chemicals [4]
Disasters [5]
Environmental Health [27]
Environmental Justice [28]
Health [32]
Journalism & Media [8]
People & Population [35]
Pollution [11]
Science [37]
Transportation [39]
Water & Oceans [41]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [43]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about A Town Derailed, a Trust Obtained [51]
Top Environment and Energy Topics To Watch in 2026 [53]

Explore our 10th annual Journalists’ Guide to Environment + Energy, as we scour the beat to identify 15 top stories to put on your radar for 2026. Our updated format for the special report provides a quick read and a broad scope — with insights on climate change and environmental justice, bird and insect declines, data centers and deep sea mining, deregulation and PFAS and much more. Get started here [53].

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [19]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [20]
Agriculture [21]
Air [3]
Biodiversity [22]
Chemicals [4]
Climate Change [23]
Disasters [5]
Economy & Business [25]
Energy & Fuel [26]
Environmental Health [27]
Environmental Justice [28]
Environmental Politics [6]
Environmental Studies [29]
Fish & Fisheries [45]
Forests [31]
Government [7]
Health [32]
Infrastructure [33]
Journalism & Media [8]
Laws & Regulations [9]
Military [54]
Natural Resources [34]
Policy [10]
Pollution [11]
Science [37]
Technology [38]
Waste [40]
Water & Oceans [41]
Wildlife [42]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Alaska and Hawaii [55]
California [56]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [43]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [57]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [58]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [59]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [60]
Northwest (OR WA) [61]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [62]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [63]
International [49]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Top Environment and Energy Topics To Watch in 2026 [53]
Citizen Pollution Monitors Face Industry Pushback, Legal Threats [64]

A steep decline in the enforcement of environmental laws means the monitoring of pollution by citizens is more important than ever. But as the latest TipSheet notes, some states have passed laws that severely constrain the use of citizen monitoring or the sharing of findings. Get the backstory, along with top reporting angles and resources for finding monitoring in your area.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [65]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [20]
Air [3]
Environmental Health [27]
Environmental Justice [28]
Environmental Politics [6]
Environmental Studies [29]
Government [7]
Health [32]
Journalism & Media [8]
Laws & Regulations [9]
Pollution [11]
Science [37]
Water & Oceans [41]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [62]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Citizen Pollution Monitors Face Industry Pushback, Legal Threats [64]
Orphans and Zombies — Reporting on Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells Across the Country [66]

For more than a century, oil and gas companies have been drilling — and abandoning — wells across the country, leaving hundreds of thousands to potentially leak pollutants into the air, water and soil. Climate and environment reporter Martha Pskowski looks at how funding and regulatory issues are impacting efforts to identify and plug these wells, and offers resources for drilling into their story.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [67]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [21]
Air [3]
Climate Change [23]
Economy & Business [25]
Energy & Fuel [26]
Environmental Health [27]
Government [7]
Health [32]
Journalism & Media [8]
Laws & Regulations [9]
Natural Resources [34]
Policy [10]
Pollution [11]
Technology [38]
Water & Oceans [41]
Wildlife [42]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [43]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [57]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [58]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [59]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [63]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Orphans and Zombies — Reporting on Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells Across the Country [66]
Queer Ecology — A Powerful Lens for Reporting on Environmental Injustice [68]

Queer ecology is an evolving field that challenges traditional assumptions in science and explores LGBTQ+ experiences in an ecological context. It’s easy to catch your audience’s attention with stories about transitioning clownfish or same-sex albatross parenting. But as contributor Isaias Hernandez explains, queer ecology also offers journalists an important perspective for covering a range of environmental issues, from climate risk to pollution exposure, and reimagining environmental narratives.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [67]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [20]
Agriculture [21]
Air [3]
Biodiversity [22]
Climate Change [23]
Disasters [5]
Diversity [69]
Environmental Health [27]
Environmental Justice [28]
Environmental Politics [6]
Environmental Studies [29]
Health [32]
Journalism & Media [8]
People & Population [35]
Planning & Growth [36]
Science [37]
Wildlife [42]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
International [49]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Queer Ecology — A Powerful Lens for Reporting on Environmental Injustice [68]

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