Publication Items

EPA’s PFAS Plan Likely To Generate News, If Not Fixes, in 2022 [1]

A government plan to address a class of so-called “forever chemicals,” widespread in the environment and implicated in human health effects, will pick up speed in 2022. But whether the effort will solve problems around PFAS remains to be seen. The latest TipSheet outlines the challenge, the EPA plan and smart ways to cover the story in your area.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [3]
Consumer [4]
Government [5]
Health [6]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [8]
Policy [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about EPA’s PFAS Plan Likely To Generate News, If Not Fixes, in 2022 [1]
U.N. Summit Lays the Table for Environmental Reporting on Food Systems [12]

After an 18-month buildup, a one-day U.N. Food Systems Summit earlier this fall generated hundreds of commitments to end global hunger and a dizzying array of alliances dedicated to the cause. Despite controversies surrounding the summit, this groundbreaking event highlighted opportunities for reporting on food and food systems. Award-winning agriculture journalist Chris Clayton shares his insights.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [13]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [14]
Agriculture [15]
Biodiversity [16]
Chemicals [3]
Climate Change [17]
Consumer [4]
Disasters [18]
Economy & Business [19]
Energy & Fuel [20]
Environmental Health [21]
Environmental Justice [22]
Environmental Politics [23]
Food [24]
Government [5]
Health [6]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [8]
Natural Resources [25]
People & Population [26]
Planning & Growth [27]
Policy [9]
Pollution [28]
Science [29]
Technology [30]
Waste [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
California [32]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [33]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [34]
International [35]
Canada [36]
Africa [37]
Europe [38]
Middle East [39]
South America [40]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about U.N. Summit Lays the Table for Environmental Reporting on Food Systems [12]
Will Animal-To-Human Disease Transmission Bring the Next Big Pandemic? [41]

The COVID-19 outbreak has left little unchanged — including how environment reporters do their jobs, given that many experts believe the disruption of the human-wild interface could be the source of the next deadly virus. The new Backgrounder makes the case in this analysis, looking at how societies — and journalists — handled this pandemic and must prepare for possible future outbreaks.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [42]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [15]
Biodiversity [16]
Disasters [18]
Environmental Health [21]
Forests [43]
Government [5]
Health [6]
Journalism & Media [7]
People & Population [26]
Science [29]
Wildlife [44]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
International [35]
Asia [45]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Will Animal-To-Human Disease Transmission Bring the Next Big Pandemic? [41]
EPA Data Moves Toward Openness — Again [46]

Public data around environmental issues has been a thing at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for decades, ... except when it hasn’t. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox looks at how data transparency is back in fashion under the Biden EPA, and the many ways that environmental journalists can build on available datasets for their coverage.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [47]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Politics [23]
Government [5]
Journalism & Media [7]
Policy [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about EPA Data Moves Toward Openness — Again [46]
Climate Change at Core of Beat Reporters’ Award-Winning Coverage [48]

Beat reporters Hal Bernton and Mark Kaufman both found the dramatic changes wrought by climate change to be at the center of their coverage — as their work was elevated to prize-winning heights. Bernton, covering climate impacts in northwestern Alaska at a large newspaper, and Kaufman, covering CO2 globally for a digital platform, talk about the lessons of their recent beat coverage with SEJournal’s Inside Story.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [49]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [17]
Energy & Fuel [20]
Environmental Health [21]
Fish & Fisheries [50]
Journalism & Media [7]
Natural Resources [25]
Policy [9]
Water & Oceans [51]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Alaska and Hawaii [52]
International [35]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Climate Change at Core of Beat Reporters’ Award-Winning Coverage [48]
Will 2022 See the Start of Formal Negotiations Toward a Global Plastics Treaty? [53]

Plastic waste, already the subject of preliminary international talks, could be increasingly targeted after UN meetings in early 2022. Meanwhile, this ubiquitous product is polluting land, ocean and air in its various forms, as well as through little-understood microplastic particles. The latest TipSheet has the backstory on efforts to forge an international plastics treaty, as well as ideas for how to cover plastic pollution locally.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [14]
Air [54]
Chemicals [3]
Climate Change [17]
Consumer [4]
Economy & Business [19]
Environmental Health [21]
Environmental Politics [23]
Fish & Fisheries [50]
Food [24]
Government [5]
Health [6]
Journalism & Media [7]
Policy [9]
Pollution [28]
Waste [31]
Water & Oceans [51]
Wildlife [44]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
International [35]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Will 2022 See the Start of Formal Negotiations Toward a Global Plastics Treaty? [53]
Climate Risk Disclosure Guides Journalists, Not Just Investors [55]

A profound tightening of companies’ environmental risk disclosure requirements may be ahead, thanks to efforts by the Biden administration’s Securities and Exchange Commission. And the new WatchDog Opinion column argues that as fossil fuel firms position themselves as part of an environmentally sound future, journalists must act too — demanding full disclosure of corporate financial risks related to climate.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [56]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [14]
Climate Change [17]
Consumer [4]
Economy & Business [19]
Energy & Fuel [20]
Environmental Politics [23]
Government [5]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [8]
Policy [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Climate Risk Disclosure Guides Journalists, Not Just Investors [55]
Mapping Flood Risk — Research Outfit Offers Alternative Dataset [57]

Climate change makes flooding — and flood reporting — increasingly likely, and yet government data on flood risk often falls short. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox offers an alternative, an ambitious, peer-reviewed dataset from a unique nonprofit research outfit that offers free data aggregated to the zip code, county and congressional district levels. More on the dataset and how to use it.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [47]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [17]
Disasters [18]
Environmental Studies [58]
Infrastructure [59]
Journalism & Media [7]
Water & Oceans [51]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Mapping Flood Risk — Research Outfit Offers Alternative Dataset [57]
As Locales Move to Decarbonize Buildings, Will States Ban Gas Bans? [60]

While climate change is certainly a global phenomenon, conflicts over addressing it often turn on local concerns. Case in point: Community bans on the use of the fossil fuel methane (aka natural gas), which has in turn prompted some states to ban the bans themselves. The latest TipSheet explains the bans and how they play into the climate change debate, plus story ideas and resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [14]
Climate Change [17]
Consumer [4]
Energy & Fuel [20]
Environmental Politics [23]
Government [5]
Infrastructure [59]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [8]
Natural Resources [25]
Policy [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
California [32]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [33]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [61]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [62]
Northwest (OR WA) [63]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [64]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [34]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about As Locales Move to Decarbonize Buildings, Will States Ban Gas Bans? [60]
How ‘The Swamp Peddlers’ Scammed Their Way to Florida’s Eco-Destruction [65]

How did Florida go from an uncrowded home of pine forests, wetlands and ranches to today’s sprawling subdivisions spawning environmental disaster? A new volume gains praise from BookShelf reviewer Nano Riley for its well-researched look at the unscrupulous developers who in a matter of decades carved the state’s ecosystems into lots for sale, trading its pristine beauty for an easy buck.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [66]
Topics on the Beat:
Economy & Business [19]
Environmental Politics [23]
People & Population [26]
Planning & Growth [27]
Water & Oceans [51]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [64]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about How ‘The Swamp Peddlers’ Scammed Their Way to Florida’s Eco-Destruction [65]

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