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Crisis Threatens the Country’s Most Vulnerable Region [1]

As global warming worsens, effects like extreme heat, drought, wildfires, coastal flooding and inland flooding will have an outsized impact in the Southern United States. The latest entry in our ongoing “Covering Your Climate: The South [2]” special report looks at those effects. Plus, read an introductory overview and watch for additional entries on climate mitigation and adaptation in the South.

SEJ Publication Types: 
Special Reports [3]
Topics on the Beat: 
Agriculture [4]
Air [5]
Climate Change [6]
Consumer [7]
Disasters [8]
Economy & Business [9]
Energy & Fuel [10]
Environmental Health [11]
Environmental Politics [12]
Health [13]
Journalism & Media [14]
Natural Resources [15]
People & Population [16]
Planning & Growth [17]
Policy [18]
Pollution [19]
Water & Oceans [20]
Region: 
National (U.S.) [21]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [22]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [23]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [24]
Visibility: 
Public [25]

‘Good Fire And Bad Fire.’ Indigenous Practice May Be Key To Prevention [26]

"For thousands of years, North American tribes carefully burned forests to manage the land. The future may lie in a return to that past."

Disasters [8]
Forests [27]
Natural Resources [15]
People & Population [16]
Public [25]
National (U.S.) [21]
Source: National Geographic [28], 12/28/2020

In Indian Country, Tears, Hope And Defiance Over Nomination of Haaland [29]

"American Indians have high hopes that Deb Haaland, Biden’s pick for interior secretary, can reset the troubled relationship between the federal government and Indigenous peoples. Can she deliver?"

Energy & Fuel [10]
Environmental Justice [30]
Environmental Politics [12]
Natural Resources [15]
People & Population [16]
Public [25]
National (U.S.) [21]
Source: Washington Post [31], 12/28/2020

Why the South Lags on Staving Off Crisis [32]

Most Southern state leaders are doing the least to fight the climate crisis, despite having the most to lose environmentally and economically. When will that begin to change? The latest entry in our “Covering Your Climate: The South [2]” special report looks at the politics of the climate crisis, the dominance of utilities, and the transportation and forestry sectors, along with the few climate breakthroughs. 

SEJ Publication Types: 
Special Reports [3]
Topics on the Beat: 
Air [5]
Climate Change [6]
Consumer [7]
Economy & Business [9]
Energy & Fuel [10]
Environmental Politics [12]
Government [33]
Health [13]
Journalism & Media [14]
Laws & Regulations [34]
Natural Resources [15]
Planning & Growth [17]
Policy [18]
Pollution [19]
Transportation [35]
Region: 
National (U.S.) [21]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [22]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [23]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [24]
Visibility: 
Public [25]

Is the South Confronting Its Climate Threats? [36]

The South is ground zero for the climate crisis in the United States, yet little is being done to prevent impacts or protect communities. Will the South tap its potential to be part of the solution? Our special report, “Covering Your Climate: The South,” helps reporters cover the region, starting with a backgrounder on climate concerns from Texas to Virginia.

SEJ Publication Types: 
Special Reports [3]
Topics on the Beat: 
Activism [37]
Agriculture [4]
Air [5]
Biodiversity [38]
Climate Change [6]
Consumer [7]
Disasters [8]
Economy & Business [9]
Energy & Fuel [10]
Environmental Health [11]
Environmental Politics [12]
Government [33]
Health [13]
Journalism & Media [14]
Laws & Regulations [34]
Natural Resources [15]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [39]
People & Population [16]
Planning & Growth [17]
Policy [18]
Pollution [19]
Science [40]
Technology [41]
Transportation [35]
Water & Oceans [20]
Region: 
National (U.S.) [21]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [22]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [23]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [24]
Visibility: 
Public [25]

"Trump Pardons Lawmaker Who Led Protest Ride on BLM Tract" [42]

"President Trump last night issued a full pardon to Utah state Rep. Phil Lyman (R), who served a brief jail stint for leading an illegal all-terrain vehicle protest ride through a closed Utah canyon in 2015."

Environmental Politics [12]
Journalism & Media [14]
Laws & Regulations [34]
Natural Resources [15]
Public [25]
National (U.S.) [21]
Source: E&E News [43], 12/24/2020

"Damage From Border Wall: Blown-Up Mountains, Toppled Cactus" [44]

"Work crews ignite dynamite blasts in the remote and rugged southeast corner of Arizona, forever reshaping the landscape as they pulverize mountaintops in a rush to build more of President Donald Trump’s border wall before his term ends next month."

Biodiversity [38]
Environmental Politics [12]
Natural Resources [15]
Wildlife [45]
Public [25]
National (U.S.) [21]
Source: AP [46], 12/23/2020

"Hopi Tribe Pushes For Solutions In Long Struggle For Water" [47]

"Some Hopi families don’t have running water. Many others have water tainted with arsenic. Steps toward fixes are finally taking shape."

"MISHONGNOVI — At the end of a dusty road, beside two water tanks in the desert shrubs, a windmill spins in the breeze.

From a spigot, water flows through a blue hose and gushes into a bucket.

When the water reaches the brim, Kayla Johnson heaves the bucket into the back of her family’s car. Her younger brother, Terron, holds the hose and keeps the stream running into a 5-gallon jug.

Agriculture [4]
Climate Change [6]
Environmental Justice [30]
Natural Resources [15]
People & Population [16]
Pollution [19]
Water & Oceans [20]
Public [25]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [24]
Source: Arizona Republic [48], 12/23/2020

Washington Monument Closed After Bernhardt Tests Positive For Virus [49]

"Officials have taken the extraordinary step of closing the Washington Monument starting Friday as a precaution after Interior Secretary David Bernhardt — who gave a private, nighttime tour to other Trump appointees this week — tested positive for the coronavirus."

Environmental Health [11]
Government [33]
Natural Resources [15]
Public [25]
National (U.S.) [21]
Source: Washington Post [50], 12/21/2020

Govt Scientists Predicted Border Wall Could Harm Wildlife Refuge [51]

"Construction of President Trump’s border wall moved forward last year even after government scientists said it could harm a nearby wildlife refuge, according to an internal report obtained by The Hill. The report, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, showed that the construction of the wall would pull water from the San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge."

Biodiversity [38]
Environmental Politics [12]
Laws & Regulations [34]
Natural Resources [15]
Water & Oceans [20]
Public [25]
National (U.S.) [21]
Source: The Hill [52], 12/21/2020

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Links
[1] https://www.sej.org/publications/special-reports/covering-your-climate/south-us/crisis-threatens-countrys-most-vulnerable-region [2] https://www.sej.org/publications/special-reports/covering-your-climate-the-south [3] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication-types/special-reports [4] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/agriculture [5] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/air [6] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/climate-change [7] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/consumer [8] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster [9] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/business [10] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/energy [11] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-health [12] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-politics [13] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/health [14] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/journalism/media [15] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land [16] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/people-population [17] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/cities-towns [18] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/policy [19] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/pollution [20] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water [21] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national [22] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/mid-atlantic [23] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/southeast [24] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/southwest [25] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81 [26] https://www.sej.org/headlines/good-fire-and-bad-fire-indigenous-practice-may-be-key-prevention [27] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/forests [28] https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/12/good-fire-bad-fire-indigenous-practice-may-key-preventing-wildfires/ [29] https://www.sej.org/headlines/indian-country-tears-hope-and-defiance-over-nomination-haaland [30] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-justice [31] https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/12/24/native-americans-haaland/ [32] https://www.sej.org/publications/special-reports/covering-your-climate/south-us/why-south-lags-staving-crisis [33] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/government [34] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/laws [35] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/transportation [36] https://www.sej.org/publications/special-reports/covering-your-climate/south-us/is-the-south-confronting-climate-threats [37] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/activism [38] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/biodiversity-1 [39] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/nuclear-power/radiation [40] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/science [41] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/technology [42] https://www.sej.org/headlines/trump-pardons-lawmaker-who-led-protest-ride-blm-tract [43] https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063721441 [44] https://www.sej.org/headlines/damage-border-wall-blown-mountains-toppled-cactus [45] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/wildlife [46] https://apnews.com/article/arizona-border-wall-damage-mountains-7986864266a6fc2764c671533957d958 [47] https://www.sej.org/headlines/hopi-tribe-pushes-solutions-long-struggle-water [48] https://www.azcentral.com/in-depth/news/local/arizona-environment/2020/12/14/hopi-tribe-pushes-solutions-many-without-clean-drinking-water/3731341001/ [49] https://www.sej.org/headlines/washington-monument-closed-after-bernhardt-tests-positive-virus [50] https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/18/washington-monument-david-bernhardt-covid/ [51] https://www.sej.org/headlines/govt-scientists-predicted-border-wall-could-harm-wildlife-refuge [52] https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/530757-government-scientists-predicted-border-wall-construction-could-harm [53] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land?page=295 [54] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land?page=292 [55] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land?page=293 [56] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land?page=294 [57] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land?page=297 [58] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land?page=298 [59] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land?page=299 [60] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land?page=300 [61] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land?page=514