Planning & Growth

Air [21]

Policy [22]

Water & Oceans [16]

"Texas Town’s Blast Crater Shows Risk From Patchwork Zoning Laws" [23]

"With two schools near a plant storing ammonium nitrate -- the fertilizer used in the Oklahoma City bombing -- West, Texas, Superintendent Marty Crawford said he had always worried about an explosion like the one that happened last week."

Disasters [14]

Public [10]

National (U.S.) [24]

Source: Bloomberg [25], 04/26/2013

Read more about "Texas Town’s Blast Crater Shows Risk From Patchwork Zoning Laws" [23]

Toolbox: Database Helps Track Broken Promises on Parkland Conservation [26]

Seattle-based InvestigateWest published a feature package last summer documenting illegal parkland conversions in Michigan, New York City, and Oklahoma. They could not cover all the other states — that was left for you to do, with the assistance of their database of some 40,000 federal grants under the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

SEJ Publication Types:

WatchDog TipSheet [27]

Topics on the Beat:

Natural Resources [28]

Government [29]

Economy & Business [30]

Region:

Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [31]

Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [32]

Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [8]

Visibility:

Public [10]

Read more about Toolbox: Database Helps Track Broken Promises on Parkland Conservation [26]

Texas Fertilizer Explosion Re-Raises Buried Hazmat Disclosure Issues [33]

News stories about the April 17, 2013, explosion of a fertilizer storage plant in the town of West, Texas that killed 15 people have so far focused on the plant operator's risk-disclosure failure, instead of the likely fact that government agencies knew the nature and magnitude of the hazard — or should have known. The bigger story is the regulatory failure — and industry's decades-long campaign to keep the public ignorant of the threats they face. Photo: AP/LM Otero/Available through Creative Commons.

SEJ Publication Types:

WatchDog TipSheet [27]

Topics on the Beat:

Environmental Politics [34]

Disasters [14]

Chemicals [35]

Agriculture [13]

Region:

Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [8]

Visibility:

Public [10]

Read more about Texas Fertilizer Explosion Re-Raises Buried Hazmat Disclosure Issues [33]

"Pinellas Beginning To Assess Risks of Sea-Level Rise" [36]

"CLEARWATER -- Despite warnings from scientists, rising sea levels still seem little more than a distant, imperceptible threat, a phenomenon whose change is measured in centimeters over decades."

SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [7]

Public [10]

Source: Tampa Tribune [37], 04/23/2013

Read more about "Pinellas Beginning To Assess Risks of Sea-Level Rise" [36]

SEJournal Spring 2013, Vol. 23 No. 1 [38]

In this issue: Special report on energy and climate change; first installment of new column 'Freelance Files' on goal setting; database helps track illegal parkland conversions; members cover sprawl, science and chickens; annual Sundance Film Festival report; and six book reviews.

SEJ Publication Types:

SEJournal Online [39]

Topics on the Beat:

Agriculture [13]

Energy & Fuel [40]

Journalism & Media [4]

Natural Resources [28]

Science [15]

Visibility:

Public [10]

Read more about SEJournal Spring 2013, Vol. 23 No. 1 [38]

"Americans Oppose Paying for Storm-Ravaged Beaches" [41]

"WASHINGTON -- More than 4 out of 5 Americans want to prepare now for rising seas and stronger storms from climate change, a new national survey says. But most are unwilling to keep spending money to restore and protect stricken beaches."

Disasters [14]

Environmental Politics [34]

Policy [22]

Water & Oceans [16]

Public [10]

National (U.S.) [24]

Source: AP [42], 03/29/2013

Read more about "Americans Oppose Paying for Storm-Ravaged Beaches" [41]

"LA Harbor Commissioners OK Rail Yard Near Port" [43]

"Over the objections of environmentalists, community groups and neighboring Long Beach officials, Los Angeles harbor commissioners on Thursday approved a $500-million rail yard that could dramatically boost business but also drive more noise and dirty air into schools, parks and low-income neighborhoods."