Publication Items

A Town Derailed, a Trust Obtained [1]

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 [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Chemicals [4]
Disasters [5]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Justice [7]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
People & Population [10]
Pollution [11]
Science [12]
Transportation [13]
Water & Oceans [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [16]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about A Town Derailed, a Trust Obtained [1]
Will Your Town Pass the Electric School Bus Acid Test? [18]

A Biden-era plan to put billions into school buses, clean EV-style, could be in the rearview mirror under the Trump administration, reports the latest TipSheet. That’s despite the fume-free, greenhouse gas-scarce qualities that benefit the air and the climate, parents and kids. To get in the driver’s seat on this story, here are a half a dozen local story ideas, plus reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [19]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Climate Change [20]
Energy & Fuel [21]
Environmental Politics [22]
Government [23]
Health [8]
Infrastructure [24]
Journalism & Media [9]
Policy [25]
Pollution [11]
Technology [26]
Transportation [13]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Will Your Town Pass the Electric School Bus Acid Test? [18]
Walkability Index Helps Journalists Highlight Planning Issues [27]

Many local government decisions come down to a key factor: walkability. And that’s not just a question of transportation infrastructure. As the latest Reporter’s Toolbox notes, walkability is also an environmental consideration. To turn that simple truth into stories about the built environment, here’s a high-quality, mappable walkability index. How to use the database smartly, plus questions to ask that will get your reporting started.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [28]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [20]
Environmental Politics [22]
Government [23]
Infrastructure [24]
Journalism & Media [9]
People & Population [10]
Planning & Growth [29]
Policy [25]
Transportation [13]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Walkability Index Helps Journalists Highlight Planning Issues [27]
Life on Mars and Other Space Oddities [30]

When an ecologist and a cartoonist team up to explore the realities of colonizing Mars, the result is a humorous and highly informative book on whether humans are truly up to settling space. They detour into the intimacies of zero-gravity intimacy and the challenges of ensuring a food supply. From BookShelf contributing editor Melody Kemp, a review of “A City on Mars.”

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [31]
Topics on the Beat:
Planning & Growth [29]
Science [12]
Technology [26]
Transportation [13]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
International [32]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Life on Mars and Other Space Oddities [30]
Desperately Seeking Data? OECD Has Loads [33]

If the possibility of a politically driven dearth of data for your climate and environment reporting has you on edge, the new Reporter’s Toolbox just may have something to soothe your nerves: A data source from beyond the grasp of the Trump administration and outside the boundaries of the United States. Take a quick tour of environmental data from the OECD.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [28]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [34]
Air [3]
Biodiversity [35]
Chemicals [4]
Climate Change [20]
Energy & Fuel [21]
Environmental Studies [36]
Fish & Fisheries [37]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Natural Resources [38]
Pollution [11]
Transportation [13]
Waste [39]
Water & Oceans [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
International [32]
Europe [40]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Desperately Seeking Data? OECD Has Loads [33]
What Biden Rules Could Congress Unplug With Review Act? [41]

As the Biden White House rushes to enact environment and energy policy before Inauguration Day, an obscure law leaves room for the incoming administration to claw them back. At risk: strengthened emissions standards for vehicles and power, tougher energy efficiency standards and plans to replace lead pipes. The latest EJ TransitionWatch explains how the reversal works — and why it might not.

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ TransitionWatch [42]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Climate Change [20]
Economy & Business [43]
Energy & Fuel [21]
Environmental Politics [22]
Government [23]
Infrastructure [24]
Laws & Regulations [44]
Policy [25]
Pollution [11]
Technology [26]
Transportation [13]
Water & Oceans [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about What Biden Rules Could Congress Unplug With Review Act? [41]
Looking for Environmental Justice Through the Smog [45]

A serious air pollutant prevalent in underserved communities, Superfund hazardous waste sites nearby, public drinking water systems out of compliance. All are new or enhanced insights found in an improved version of the federal government’s EJScreen data tool. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox reviews the changes and how they can be used to tell stories of real people’s daily lives.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [28]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Chemicals [4]
Environmental Justice [7]
Government [23]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [44]
People & Population [10]
Pollution [11]
Transportation [13]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Looking for Environmental Justice Through the Smog [45]
Greenhouse Gas Inventory Data Helps Tell the Climate Story [46]

A massive data set that tracks greenhouse gas emissions in the United States is now newly updated, and the latest Reporter’s Toolbox calls it essential for informed reporting on U.S. climate policy. Its three decades-plus of measurements can help journalists track big emitters near them and from a variety of major sources ranging from landfill methane to industrial polluters.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [28]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [34]
Air [3]
Climate Change [20]
Energy & Fuel [21]
Environmental Health [6]
Government [23]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [44]
Policy [25]
Pollution [11]
Transportation [13]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Greenhouse Gas Inventory Data Helps Tell the Climate Story [46]
EV Charging Stations — Are They There Yet? [47]

For all the talk about the energy transition and the robust growth in electric vehicle sales, there’s one big reason for unease: getting charged. The new Backgrounder takes a deep dive on the state of EV charging stations in the United States, exploring Tesla’s diminishing dominance, coming charger standardization, charging levels, software and for-pay realities, plus the effects of government policy.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [48]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [20]
Consumer [49]
Energy & Fuel [21]
Environmental Politics [22]
Infrastructure [24]
Planning & Growth [29]
Policy [25]
Technology [26]
Transportation [13]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about EV Charging Stations — Are They There Yet? [47]
Roadkill Makes for Jolting Read in ‘Crossings’ [50]

As human roadways sprawl across a global network, the planet’s other living things have not only found the vehicles that travel them among the world’s deadliest weapons but also that road noise, the impassable divisions of the landscape and more have massive implications for nature. BookShelf reviews Ben Goldfarb’s eye-opening new book, “Crossings,” and the realities of road ecology.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [31]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [35]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Justice [7]
Infrastructure [24]
Planning & Growth [29]
Pollution [11]
Transportation [13]
Wildlife [51]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
California [52]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [53]
International [32]
Australia & Oceania [54]
Europe [40]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Roadkill Makes for Jolting Read in ‘Crossings’ [50]

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