Commuters seeking social distancing want them. City dwellers drawn to nearly car-free streets want them too. But the boom in bikes long pre-dates the COVID-19 outbreak, and their eco-friendly reputation offers environment reporters numerous smart local story angles, per the latest TipSheet. Get context, plus numerous story ideas and resources.

As the United States restarts fitfully following the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, one source of controversy — and of numerous local or regional environmental stories — is what to do at the nation’s park system. The latest TipSheet explains why public access to these national treasures is so contentious, then provides numerous story ideas and reporting resources.

For reporters investigating the coronavirus-environment connection, you might look to the untreated sewage that can sometimes overflow municipal systems during wet weather, possibly bringing the novel pathogen to beaches and other places where people can get sick from it. The latest TipSheet takes a look at the reality, plus provides story ideas and reporter resources.

As researchers are finding that soot and other forms of fine particulates in the air may actually make people more vulnerable to the coronavirus, the EPA decided earlier this month against tightening related standards under the Clean Air Act. The latest TipSheet explains why the decision matters, provides deeper context and offers story ideas and resources.

While the COVID-19 outbreak may be absorbing most of the world’s attention, the latest TipSheet advises journalists not to back-burner climate-related energy reporting, as industries and activists continue lobbying for new energy stimulus measures from Congress. On the watch list: tax breaks, airline emission cuts, infrastructure, fossil fuel industry bailouts and more. 

An historic multi-trillion-dollar COVID-19 aid bill is approaching passage in the U.S. Congress, and while details are currently sketchy, it appears to include some key environment and energy asks related to oil reserves, emergency transit funding, cuts in airline carbon emissions, clean energy tax credits, and relief for oil, gas and coal industries. Read on, find out more about the many environment and energy reporting angles to the COVID-19 outbreak [36] and stay tuned to SEJournal online for further developments.

COVID-19 is an unpleasant reminder that when a public health emergency hits, it pays for journalists — including environment reporters — to be prepared. The latest TipSheet offers advice on handling the unknown and gathering an emergency “go bag,” as well as tracking story ideas and numerous federal, state/local and media resources.

The annual release this month of the latest Toxics Release Inventory opens up a world of data about local hazards — but only if journalists have the tools to uncover hidden problems. The latest TipSheet walks you through the background and context needed, plus offers up a reporter’s rig and a pack of questions for possible stories.

With the negative impacts of climate change becoming clearer by the day, there is a growing awareness among important financial institutions that global warming confronts businesses with large, even catastrophic, economic losses. The latest TipSheet has the backstory on the financial risks of climate change, plus what’s ahead and how to cover it, with story ideas and reporting resources.

This election year, environmental issues like climate change may well break the pattern of past campaigns, where they seemed to recede as voting approached. Our latest entry in our “2020 Journalists’ Guide to Energy & Environment [45]” explains how green politics may shape both national and state/local races in the months to come, and provides resources for reporters to track that rapidly changing landscape.