Journalist Lyndsie Bourgon had covered timber poaching in the Pacific Northwest for over a decade when she decided to expand her scope, heading to the Peruvian Amazon to explore old-growth poaching there. In FEJ StoryLog, she shares the ups and downs of that project, made possible in part by a grant from the Society of Environmental Journalists’ Fund for Environmental Journalism.
With megadrought a growing reality, one way into the story is through ubiquitous water management agencies. TipSheet surveys the “waterscape” of these governmental bodies — from local irrigation districts to multi-state regional water compacts — and how focusing on them can yield vital insights for drought stories. Plus, questions to ask and links to reporting resources.
"For two weeks in late spring, near dusk, the fireflies at the most-visited national park in the US flash in unison, a ‘one-of-a-kind natural phenomenon’"
"Earthworms are often seen as a welcome presence in gardens, and even on fishing hooks. But in the Northeast, experts say invasive "crazy worms" from Asia are creating havoc in forests — and they say the unusual worms are a danger to animals and plants, and especially to sugar maple trees."
"When the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power was hacked in 2018, it took a mere six hours. Early this year, an intruder lurked in hundreds of computers related to water systems across the U.S. In Portland, Oregon, burglars installed malicious computers onto a grid providing power to a chunk of the Northwest."
"The dominant narrative about labor unions and climate change is that fossil fuel workers are a major roadblock to action. ... So it’s worth slowing down to examine a groundbreaking new report — endorsed by 19 unions, including two representing thousands of California oil workers — that offers a preview of what the path forward might look like."
"To compete with clean firm generation, long-duration storage needs to come down massively in price."
"The Pine Island Glacier’s ice shelf loss accelerated in 2017, causing scientists to worry that with climate change the glacier’s collapse could happen quicker than the many centuries predicted. The floating ice shelf acts like a cork in a bottle for the fast-melting glacier and prevents its much larger ice mass from flowing into the ocean."
"Docs suggest that in more than 80 U.S. locations, the failure of an aging dam could flood a major toxic waste site".
"When the long-mothballed Limetree Bay oil refinery reopened in February, environmentalists saw it as a parting gift from the Trump administration to the deeply divided people of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Some thought the massive facility would help revive the island’s economy while others feared environmental disaster and a looming climate nightmare."
Links
[1] https://www.sej.org/publications/fej-storylog/uncovering-inequality-s-roots-timber-poaching
[2] https://www.sej.org/publications/tipsheet/irrigation-districts-are-key-covering-coming-drought
[3] https://www.sej.org/headlines/magical-synchronous-fireflies-light-us-national-parks
[4] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/11/fireflies-great-smoky-mountains-national-park
[5] https://www.sej.org/headlines/crazy-worms-threaten-americas-trees-and-gasp-our-maple-syrup
[6] https://www.npr.org/2021/06/13/1005608878/crazy-worms-threaten-americas-trees-and-gasp-our-maple-syrup
[7] https://www.sej.org/headlines/us-water-and-power-are-shockingly-vulnerable-cyberhacks
[8] https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/u-s-water-and-power-are-shockingly-vulnerable-to-cyberhacks-1
[9] https://www.sej.org/headlines/why-california-oil-workers-union-getting-behind-clean-energy
[10] https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2021-06-10/why-a-california-oil-workers-union-is-getting-behind-clean-energy-boiling-point
[11] https://www.sej.org/headlines/long-duration-energy-storage-can-help-clean-grid-if-its-super-cheap
[12] https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/long-duration-energy-storage-can-help-clean-up-the-grid-but-only-if-its-super-cheap/
[13] https://www.sej.org/headlines/ice-shelf-protecting-antarctic-glacier-breaking-faster
[14] https://apnews.com/article/wa-state-wire-oceans-climate-glaciers-climate-change-3644a4238d2fcbe48f4f47ddbeea16fa
[15] https://www.sej.org/headlines/below-aging-us-dams-potential-toxic-calamity
[16] https://www.salon.com/2021/06/12/below-aging-us-dams-a-potential-toxic-calamity_partner/
[17] https://www.sej.org/headlines/st-croix-s-limetree-bay-refinery-could-be-facing-bankruptcy
[18] https://insideclimatenews.org/news/12062021/st-croix-limetree-bay-refinery-bankruptcy-trump-biden/
[19] https://www.sej.org/search_results
[20] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=1341
[21] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=1338
[22] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=1339
[23] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=1340
[24] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=1343
[25] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=1344
[26] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=1345
[27] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=1346
[28] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=4946