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Disruptive, Disappointing, Chaotic: Shutdown Upends Scientific Research [1]

"Kay Behrensmeyer was supposed to be preparing for a three-week expedition to look for evidence of ancient humans in Kenya. Instead, she spent Thursday packing her research permits, her fossil-collecting supplies, and maps she’d spent weeks compiling and annotating by hand into a FedEx box, which she shipped to a junior colleague on the project. Behrensmeyer, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the National Museum of Natural History, wasn’t going anywhere. The federal government was shut down."

Environmental Health [2]
Environmental Politics [3]
Environmental Studies [4]
Government [5]
Science [6]
Public [7]
National (U.S.) [8]
Source: Washington Post [9], 01/02/2019

"The Infiltrator" [10]

"How an Undercover Oil Industry Mercenary Tricked Pipeline Opponents Into Believing He Was One of Them." "A former Marine working for the private security firm TigerSwan infiltrated an array of anti-Dakota Access pipeline groups at Standing Rock and beyond."

Activism [11]
Environmental Politics [3]
Public [7]
National (U.S.) [8]
Source: The Intercept [12], 01/02/2019

Taxpayers on the Hook for Insuring Farmers Against Growing Climate Risks [13]

"The American Farm Bureau lobbies to protect the status quo, and its own interests".

Agriculture [14]
Climate Change [15]
Economy & Business [16]
Environmental Politics [3]
Laws & Regulations [17]
Public [7]
National (U.S.) [8]
Source: InsideClimate News [18], 01/02/2019

"Trash, Toilet Odor Build At National Parks Amid Government Shutdown" [19]

"California's Joshua Tree National Park on Wednesday will become the latest casualty of the federal government's partial shutdown, closing campgrounds amid health and safety concerns over near-capacity pit toilets."

Environmental Health [2]
Environmental Politics [3]
Government [5]
Laws & Regulations [17]
Natural Resources [20]
Public [7]
National (U.S.) [8]
Source: CNN [21], 01/02/2019

"Appropriations: House Dems End Year With Interior-EPA Spending Plan" [22]

"House Democrats signaled their readiness for 2019 combat with President Trump with the New Year's Eve release of an omnibus spending bill aimed at reopening the government."

Environmental Politics [3]
Government [5]
Laws & Regulations [17]
Public [7]
National (U.S.) [8]
Source: E&E Daily [23], 01/02/2019

Oversight on EPA FOIA Screening,  Covering Pipeline Protests, Feedlot Air Emissions, Data on Illegal Fishing [24]

The new year will likely mean subpoenas on EPA’s FOIA response policies, as a Democrat takes the chair in the House Oversight Committee amid charges the agency is choking off politically sensitive record requests. And are new laws in a dozen states making coverage of pipeline protests a felony? That, plus air emission exemptions for animal feedlot operators and data on illegal fishing. All in the latest issue of the WatchDog.

SEJ Publication Types: 
WatchDog TipSheet [25]
Topics on the Beat: 
Activism [11]
Agriculture [14]
Air [26]
Climate Change [15]
Energy & Fuel [27]
Environmental Politics [3]
Fish & Fisheries [28]
Government [5]
Journalism & Media [29]
Laws & Regulations [17]
People & Population [30]
Pollution [31]
Water & Oceans [32]
Region: 
National (U.S.) [8]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [33]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [34]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [35]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [36]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [37]
Northwest (OR WA) [38]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [39]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [40]
Visibility: 
Public [7]

Under Trump, Squalls over Science Will Continue in 2019 [41]

The Trump administration’s “war on science” is playing out not just at the EPA, with its controversial proposed “secret science” rule, but at federal agencies throughout the government. This special TipSheet lays out the conflict, and offers guidance on how to turn the overarching issue into a story with character and a regional or local sense of place. Plus, see more in our ongoing 2019 Journalists’ Guide to Energy & Environment.

SEJ Publication Types: 
TipSheet [42]
Topics on the Beat: 
Biodiversity [43]
Climate Change [15]
Energy & Fuel [27]
Environmental Politics [3]
Environmental Studies [4]
Government [5]
Journalism & Media [29]
Natural Resources [20]
Science [6]
Technology [44]
Transportation [45]
Region: 
National (U.S.) [8]
Visibility: 
Public [7]

Help Environmental Journalists Hold Governments Accountable [46]

Every presidential administration tries to influence the press — and sometimes can even stand in the way of reporters doing their jobs. But no previous administration has ever labeled reporters the “enemy of the people,” as President Trump has done, over and over again.

From the U.S. EPA to Interior, SEJ has challenged government attempts to block press freedom; joined hundreds of other news organizations across the country to stand up to Trump’s bullying; confronted dozens of challenges to press freedom in recent years; and jumped in to defend journalists reporting on Standing Rock, photographers working in National Forests and publications awaiting FOIA requests.

SEJ is proud to defend the crucial work of environmental reporters. With your continued support, we’ll keep speaking out in 2019. Read more and please give now [46].

Topics on the Beat: 
Environmental Politics [3]
Government [5]
Journalism & Media [29]
Visibility: 
Public [7]

Pelosi Picks Kathy Castor To Lead Select Committee On Climate Change [47]

"House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi appointed Rep. Kathy Castor on Friday to lead a select committee on climate change when Democrats retake the majority in the new year."

Activism [11]
Climate Change [15]
Environmental Politics [3]
Journalism & Media [29]
Laws & Regulations [17]
Public [7]
National (U.S.) [8]
Source: AP [48], 12/31/2018

"Shutdown: As Funds Run Out, EPA Will Furlough 13,705 Employees" [49]

"Set to run out of carryover funds tonight [Friday], EPA will soon close and send thousands of employees home without pay."

Environmental Health [2]
Environmental Politics [3]
Government [5]
Laws & Regulations [17]
Public [7]
National (U.S.) [8]
Source: Greenwire [50], 12/31/2018

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Links
[1] https://www.sej.org/headlines/disruptive-disappointing-chaotic-shutdown-upends-scientific-research [2] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-health [3] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-politics [4] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmentalists [5] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/government [6] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/science [7] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81 [8] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national [9] https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2018/12/28/disruptive-disappointing-chaotic-shutdown-upends-scientific-research/?utm_term=.93841f7c287d [10] https://www.sej.org/headlines/infiltrator [11] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/activism [12] https://theintercept.com/2018/12/30/tigerswan-infiltrator-dakota-access-pipeline-standing-rock/ [13] https://www.sej.org/headlines/taxpayers-hook-insuring-farmers-against-growing-climate-risks [14] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/agriculture [15] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/climate-change [16] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/business [17] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/laws [18] https://insideclimatenews.org/news/31122018/crop-insurance-farm-bureau-taxpayer-subsidies-climate-change-risk-rising [19] https://www.sej.org/headlines/trash-toilet-odor-build-national-parks-amid-government-shutdown [20] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land [21] https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/01/us/government-shutdown-national-parks-toilets-services/index.html [22] https://www.sej.org/headlines/appropriations-house-dems-end-year-interior-epa-spending-plan [23] https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060110673 [24] https://www.sej.org/publications/watchdog-tipsheet/oversight-epa-foia-screening-covering-pipeline-protests-feedlot-air [25] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication/watchdog-tipsheet [26] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/air [27] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/energy [28] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/fisheries [29] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/journalism/media [30] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/people-population [31] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/pollution [32] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water [33] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/great-lakes [34] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/great-plains [35] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/mid-atlantic [36] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/mountain-west [37] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northeast [38] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northwest [39] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/southeast [40] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/southwest [41] https://www.sej.org/publications/tipsheet/under-trump-squalls-over-science-will-continue-2019 [42] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication/tipsheet [43] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/biodiversity-1 [44] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/technology [45] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/transportation [46] https://www.sej.org/help-environmental-journalists-hold-governments-accountable [47] https://www.sej.org/headlines/pelosi-picks-kathy-castor-lead-select-committee-climate-change [48] https://www.apnews.com/50d2e368895a3785cd2851db3bc0fae3 [49] https://www.sej.org/headlines/shutdown-funds-run-out-epa-will-furlough-13705-employees [50] https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060110669 [51] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-politics?page=805 [52] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-politics?page=802 [53] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-politics?page=803 [54] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-politics?page=804 [55] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-politics?page=807 [56] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-politics?page=808 [57] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-politics?page=809 [58] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-politics?page=810 [59] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-politics?page=1438