Wondering what WOTUS is? Or how the Clean Water Rule relates to the Clean Water Act and to the Section 404 permitting program meant to prevent the destruction of U.S. wetlands? Our Beat Basics column explains the history and background of the rule to help you cover White House, EPA and court action likely ahead.
As the Trump administration last week began its rollback of the Clean Water Rule, reporters are likely to see many more stories about wetlands permitting — especially on the local level. The latest TipSheet walks you through the Section 404 permitting maze and helps you find out what's happening in your locale and state.
Here you'll find informative and interesting podcasts by SEJ members and other journalists, such as Leaving the Island by SEJ member Olga Loginova. This investigative podcast exposes the mistakes and examines the lessons learned from the first federal attempt to resettle an entire community — from Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana — because of climate change.
The Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy's 2025 program takes place in NYC, Jun 10-13. Free to journalists — learn about the intersecting disciplines shaping the global energy sector, including finance and markets, climate change, science and technology, policy and geopolitics. Apply by Mar 3.
"The White House is fiercely divided over President Trump’s campaign promise to 'cancel' the Paris agreement, the 2015 accord that binds nearly every country to curb global warming, with more moderate voices maintaining that he should stick with the agreement despite his campaign pledge."
"A quarter of all global deaths of children under five are due to unhealthy or polluted environments including dirty water and air, second-hand smoke and a lack or adequate hygiene, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday."
"The Trump White House has wasted no time in targeting pro-climate policies, freezing energy-efficiency standards finalized during the last days of the Obama administration. Its “America First Energy Plan” makes no mention of renewable energy or energy efficiency, and it is focused on fossil fuels. But in 2012, Donald J. Trump, the businessman, played a different tune."
"Wolves in Wyoming should be stripped of Endangered Species Act protections and management given to the state rather than the U.S. government, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday, a decision that opens the door for hunting of the animals."
"A federal appeals court refused Friday (March 3) to revive the east bank levee authority's controversial lawsuit charging oil and gas companies with threatening hurricane levees by digging exploration and production canals through Louisiana's coastal wetlands. It was the latest setback to the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East's four-year effort to make the companies pay for environmental damage inflicted decades ago."
"PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — The Pease International Tradeport, which features an airport, hundreds of businesses and several day care centers, has been called a textbook example of how to redevelop an air base. But many who worked or had their children looked after there are coming to terms with a hidden risk: drinking water contaminated by military firefighting foam that contained perfluorinated compounds, or PFCs."
Links
[1] https://www.sej.org/publications/backgrounders/get-wise-water-rule
[2] https://www.sej.org/publications/tipsheet/draining-different-kind-swamp
[3] https://www.sej.org/library/environmental-podcasts
[4] https://www.sej.org/calendar/deadline-columbia-energy-journalism--fellows-program
[5] https://www.sej.org/headlines/top-trump-advisers-are-split-paris-agreement-climate-change
[6] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/02/us/politics/climate-change-trump.html?_r=0
[7] https://www.sej.org/headlines/polluted-environments-kill-17-million-children-year-who
[8] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-pollution-who-idUSKBN16D00Hhttp://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-pollution-who-idUSKBN16D00H
[9] https://www.sej.org/headlines/trump-got-nearly-1-million-energy-efficiency-subsidies-2012
[10] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/business/energy-environment/trump-energy-plan-climate.html?ref=energy-environment
[11] https://www.sej.org/headlines/court-rules-wyoming-wolves-should-be-stripped-federal-protections
[12] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-wyoming-wolves-idUSKBN16B01M
[13] https://www.sej.org/headlines/court-backs-oil-firms-not-levee-authority-wetlands-damage-suit
[14] http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2017/03/dismissal_of_levee_authority_w.html
[15] https://www.sej.org/headlines/families-worry-over-water-contamination-former-new-hampshire-air-base
[16] https://www.airforcetimes.com/articles/families-on-edge-over-water-contamination-at-former-new-hampshire-air-base
[17] https://www.sej.org/search_results
[18] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=2673
[19] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=2670
[20] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=2671
[21] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=2672
[22] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=2675
[23] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=2676
[24] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=2677
[25] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=2678
[26] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=5071