In the wake of the train derailment and toxic spill in Ohio, now is a good time for environmental journalists to be ready for the next such accident. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox offers up a data source for another transportation risk — hazardous materials transported via highway. Plus, why rail hazmat data can be trickier to access.
Non-Indigenous journalists may think they’re doing “marginalized” Indigenous communities a favor by covering them, but their coverage is too often extractive and riddled with racist tropes. Contributor Valerie Vande Panne offers insights and advice for avoiding these pitfalls. Seeking permission, listening, sharing and respecting are all critical tools for the job.
"On Monday, in a low-lying tract of southern Georgia’s pine belt, a half-dozen workers planted row upon row of twig-like poplar trees. These weren’t just any trees, though: Some of the seedlings being nestled into the soggy soil had been genetically engineered to grow wood at turbocharged rates while slurping up carbon dioxide from the air."
"The wet winter, cutbacks in releases from Glen Canyon Dam and proposals from states to reduce demand aren’t enough to stem the reservoir’s decline, leading some activists to advise phasing it out."
"The Biden administration is proposing to restore regulations aiming to protect farmworkers from pesticides that had been rolled back under the Trump administration."
"Don’t look now, but the divided Congress could pass a major climate change bill."
"In the midst of an unusually warm winter across much of the northern United States and southern Canada, the Great Lakes now have the least ice cover on record for the middle of February, which is typically when the ice begins to reach its maximum extent for the season."
"A group of 24 Republican-led states is suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to try to knock down a rule governing which waters get federal protections."
"A visit to East Palestine from the head of the E.P.A. and a White House pledge to lend more support were met with skepticism in the community."
Meet SEJ member Bobby Magill! Bobby is a journalist covering water, public lands and the Interior Department for Bloomberg Law in Washington, D.C. His work focuses on climate change and legal battles over the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, water supplies, oil and gas leasing, endangered species and other federal lands issues.
