With drought can come fire, and with megadrought, routine reporting becomes disaster headlines. Reporter’s Toolbox gets you to the bottom of the drought data sources that help determine what’s ahead for your region, sorting through the complicated set of federal drought monitoring agencies and resources.
"A lame-duck Texas regulator who proposed mandatory oil-output cuts said the effort is “dead” a day before the biggest U.S. crude-producing state was set to vote on the measure."
"Enough gas to supply 7 million homes is leaking into the atmosphere above oil fields in Texas and New Mexico—the largest plume of climate change-driving methane pollution ever recorded over a U.S. oil field, a new study from Harvard University and Environmental Defense Fund shows."
"ARTESIA, N.M. — When the new pastor arrived at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church a few years back, he was struck by the sight and smell of the towering refinery a block east of his chapel. The Rev. A.L. Vijaya Raju had a question: Were fumes from the flares, pipes and tanks to blame for breathing problems afflicting some parishioners?"
"Water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico are running more than three degrees above average, increasing the prospects for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes this spring and potentially stronger hurricane activity in the summer and fall."
"A coalition of outdoor groups on Friday asked the New Mexico Supreme Court to weigh in on a dispute over public access to rivers and streams that flow through private property."
SEJournal welcomes back from hiatus our WatchDog feature, now recast as an opinion column from Joseph A. Davis, Society of Environmental Journalists’ veteran freedom of information advocate and longtime SEJournal contributor. In part one of a two-parter, find out why we’re relaunching the new column, plus get Davis’ take on government openness (or lack thereof) around coronavirus, as well as more on SEJ’s deep commitment to open information and a rundown of its recent FOI activities. And watch for part two next week.
"Backers of the Green New Deal are going head-to-head with the right-wing billionaire who bankrolled the modern climate denial movement on the oil industry’s home turf this weekend."
"The amount of natural gas that oil companies burn off in Texas as a waste product could power every home in the state. It’s an industry practice known as flaring, and as it grows, so do pollution and waste associated with oil extraction. So last week, a top state oil and gas regulator produced a report on it."
"Construction of a wall on the Arizona border is endangering sacred Indigenous sites — including an oasis that has supported human beings for the last 16,000 years."
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