Almost a dozen investigations are underway at the U.S. EPA and the Interior Department, including of unusual travel, private sector connections and staff/advisory panel moves. This week's TipSheet runs down the probes in detail, and offers resources for coverage of developments in 2018.

How the U.S. economy uses energy has huge impacts on the environment. So this week's TipSheet helps journalists understand the economy-energy-environment nexus, detailing nine top trends to watch on fossil fuels and alternative energy in 2018. Plus, a list of helpful sources for tracking energy markets.

Trying to figure out the air quality in your coverage area? The EPA may not be much help. But this week's TipSheet suggests some effective work-arounds for your reporting. Get the backstory on ozone standards, tips on how to track ozone "nonattainment" for your area and learn why smog matters so much to public health.

President Trump campaigned partly on the promise to abolish an Obama-era program to cut power plant CO2 emissions. But as TipSheet explains in the first in a series of special reports on key issues in the coming year, the program is tied up in complex court proceedings that may, in the end, be moot. Learn why.

Turkeys are a favorite American food, but also a multi-billion-dollar industry with myriad environment and food safety issues, not to mention confusing consumer labelling. With Thanksgiving approaching, this week's TipSheet helps reporters carve out a bird beat, serving up story ideas, resources and more.

An EPA program that helps pay for municipal water infrastructure is facing Congressional appropriations scrutiny. But with the program looking like it may escape big cuts, it remains a reservoir of reportable local projects. Find out more in the latest TipSheet, plus get state-by-state resources.

With ice and snow ahead, it's time to start thinking about road salt — its use may make driving safer, but can also cause real harm to the environment. This week's TipSheet clears the road for your reporting on this potential hazard, detailing its risks, outlining its alternatives and offering story ideas.

Halloween may remind many of the spookier side of bats. But these unique flying mammals provide important ecosystem services — and that's just one of the many reasons why environmental reporters might want to write about them. This week's TipSheet looks at covering bats, the habitat loss that's leaving many species threatened and the growing fungal plague that's wiping out many colonies. Resources and more.

As this month's fatal California fires demonstrated, the risk of wildfire at the wildland-urban interface rises as development moves into fire-prone zones. The latest TipSheet explains this complex phenomenon, and provides story ideas and a wide range of resources to help you get ahead of the problem.

Reporters looking to cover local safe drinking water stories can start smartly by looking at federal and state funding. That's the advice of this week's TipSheet, which simplifies your research with a 50-state directory of Safe Drinking Water Revolving Fund programs. Get your state info here. [52]