Publication Items

COP30 — Why It Won’t Save the Planet [1]

Just under two months from the start of the annual global forum for managing climate change — the United Nations’ conference of parties beginning Nov. 10 in Belém, Brazil — our Backgrounder analysis laments the vanishingly small chance that nations will agree on managing steadily rising greenhouse gas emissions. A look at the obstacles, plus COP30 reporting challenges, from hotel expenses to diplomatic spin.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Environmental Justice [5]
Environmental Politics [6]
Government [7]
Journalism & Media [8]
Policy [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
International [11]
South America [12]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about COP30 — Why It Won’t Save the Planet [1]
Teaming Up To Tap Into Texas Regulatory Capture [14]

When reporters from Inside Climate News and The Texas Tribune teamed up on a multipart series about Texas environmental regulators, they found state agencies sidestepping science, the law and accountability. The beneficiaries? The oil and gas industry. Their prizewinning reporting was praised for its data analysis, and public records and field reporting. Read an Inside Story Q&A with Martha Pskowski of Inside Climate News.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [15]
Topics on the Beat:
Pollution [16]
Water & Oceans [17]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [18]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Teaming Up To Tap Into Texas Regulatory Capture [14]
Walkability Index Helps Journalists Highlight Planning Issues [19]

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 [20]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Environmental Politics [6]
Government [7]
Infrastructure [21]
Journalism & Media [8]
People & Population [22]
Planning & Growth [23]
Policy [9]
Transportation [24]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Walkability Index Helps Journalists Highlight Planning Issues [19]
The Art of Access — Strategies for Acquiring Environmental Records [25]

As government resistance intensifies over sharing public records — especially environmental documents — journalists need to hone their skills to get the information they need to do their jobs and serve their audiences. FOIA expert David Cuillier offers tips and tactics to help you use your reporting time and dollars most effectively and ensure your public records requests produce high-quality results.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [26]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [7]
Journalism & Media [8]
Laws & Regulations [27]
Policy [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about The Art of Access — Strategies for Acquiring Environmental Records [25]
The Time To Make Local Stories With GHG Inventory Data Is Now [28]

If you’re thinking of reporting on major greenhouse gas emitters in your coverage area by using long-standing U.S. government data, better act fast — a key source of that information may soon disappear, warns the latest TipSheet. Find out who’s working to save the numbers, plus get more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [29]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Environmental Politics [6]
Environmental Studies [30]
Government [7]
Journalism & Media [8]
Policy [9]
Science [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about The Time To Make Local Stories With GHG Inventory Data Is Now [28]
Trump Climate Science Denial Hinges on … Not Saying the Word [32]

A war on the facts behind climate change — and on the actions to address it — is well underway in the second Trump administration. The new WatchDog Opinion column takes the measure of the battlefront, eyeing key examples of the political onslaught, including a concerted effort to eradicate the very term itself. Regulations killed, research discredited, speech censored and more.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [33]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Environmental Justice [5]
Environmental Politics [6]
Environmental Studies [30]
Government [7]
Journalism & Media [8]
Laws & Regulations [27]
Planning & Growth [23]
Policy [9]
Science [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Trump Climate Science Denial Hinges on … Not Saying the Word [32]
Saving Big Cats From Humans [34]

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 [15]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [35]
Environmental Health [36]
Environmental Studies [30]
Forests [37]
Journalism & Media [8]
People & Population [22]
Science [31]
Wildlife [38]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Northwest (OR WA) [39]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Saving Big Cats From Humans [34]
EPA Open Data Plan Is Worth Putting Into Action [40]

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 [20]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Environmental Justice [5]
Environmental Politics [6]
Government [7]
Journalism & Media [8]
Policy [9]
Science [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about EPA Open Data Plan Is Worth Putting Into Action [40]
‘People Will Die’ — Stories Behind Trump Budget Bill [41]

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 [42]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [43]
Air [44]
Chemicals [45]
Climate Change [3]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Environmental Health [36]
Environmental Justice [5]
Environmental Politics [6]
Government [7]
Health [46]
Infrastructure [21]
Journalism & Media [8]
Laws & Regulations [27]
People & Population [22]
Policy [9]
Pollution [16]
Waste [47]
Water & Oceans [17]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Alaska and Hawaii [48]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [49]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about ‘People Will Die’ — Stories Behind Trump Budget Bill [41]
Ecofiction — A Novel Approach to Environmental Truth-Telling [50]

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 [26]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [8]
Military [51]
Science [31]
Technology [52]
Wildlife [38]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [53]
International [11]
Asia [54]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Ecofiction — A Novel Approach to Environmental Truth-Telling [50]

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