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"The Burmese python caught by a team of trackers breaks a record and shows the invasive species surviving in Florida’s ecosystem despite efforts to remove those snakes."
The historic discovery of the Clotilda — America’s “Last Slave Ship” — is only part of the story told in a new book by Alabama-based journalist Ben Raines, which tells the far larger tale about the ship’s survivors, the remarkable Jim Crow-era community they created and its ultimate erosion when faced by decades of environmental racism. A review by BookShelf Editor Tom Henry.
Closure plans for more than 160 coal ash facilities crisscrossing the United States are under renewed scrutiny by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to a newly leaked list. The latest TipSheet credits that leak with offering local environmental reporters story leads on potential drinking water pollution in their communities. Get the details, plus story ideas and reporting resources.
"Flowers seem to live longer in vases filled with Baton Rouge water, according to Dominique Rogers, 36, a florist in Louisiana’s capital city with 14 years of experience."
"EPA has reached a tentative deal with environmental groups in a lawsuit brought over toxic pollution in the swath of Louisiana known as “Cancer Alley.”"
"A federal agency has delivered a big setback to a company’s controversial plan to mine near the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp and its vast wildlife refuge."
Millions of Americans rely on their own onsite wastewater treatment, commonly known as septic systems. And many of those systems are connected to private wells. But unless they are properly sited, designed, built and maintained, they can contaminate drinking water, bringing dangerous waterborne illnesses. The latest TipSheet explains how to turn this often ignored issue into a local story.
Meet SEJ member Mark Schleifstein! Mark is part of a four-reporter team — supported by SEJ's Fund for Environmental Journalism with funding from the Walton Family Foundation — covering the environment for The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate | NOLA.com. He covers coastal restoration, levees, hurricanes, climate change and the oil and gas and petrochemical industries.
"The nation’s largest federally owned utility plans to invest more than $3.5 billion in new gas-burning electric plants, despite President Biden’s commitment to swiftly move away from fossil fuels and eliminate greenhouse gases from the power sector in a little more than a decade."
"A group of New Orleans residents whose homes were built on a toxic landfill decades ago have won a $75.3 million court judgement against the city, its housing authority and the local school board."
