Planning & Growth

Cascadia Bioregion Rife With Energy, Environment Troubles To Report in 2023

Iconic critters like salmon, orca and wolves. Climate controversies like natural gas greenwashing and carbon auctions. And wildfire fallout like “smoke-a-geddon.” These are just some of the wide array of stories worth covering as environmental journalists scan Cascadia, the huge area encompassing Washington, Oregon and Idaho, and stretching from Alaska to Utah. This special TipSheet, part of our 2023 Journalists’ Guide to Energy & Environment, outlines top issues in the region, offering insights, resources and story angles.

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Colorado River Is Overused And Shrinking. Crisis Transforms The Southwest

"The Colorado River begins as melting snow, trickling from forested peaks and coursing in streams that gather in the meadows and valleys of the Rocky Mountains. Like arteries, its major tributaries take shape across Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico, coming together in a great river like no other — a river that travels more than 1,400 miles and has defined the rise of the American Southwest over the last century."

Source: LA Times, 01/27/2023

Water-Sharing in the West: An Urgent and Complicated Environmental Story

Water has always been a precious commodity in the western states. Now, with rapid population growth and a drying climate, the way this resource is shared and distributed is becoming more contentious across the region. Freelance journalist Jennifer Oldham talks about the tensions between supply and demand and how to drill down into water rights laws and policies.

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Louisiana Coastal Plan Update Promises Billions In Hurricane-Damage Savings

"A draft update of the state’s $50 billion coastal master plan predicts that 61 new projects to build or protect land, a dozen new levees, and new efforts to elevate, flood-proof or relocate flood-prone homes will reduce annual hurricane storm surge damages by at least $11 billion per year by 2073."

Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 01/10/2023

"Remote Work Is Poised to Devastate America’s Cities"

"The “work from home” revolution has been very good for political columnists who like to write shirtless in pajama pants and share too much personal information with their readers. But the phenomenon hasn’t been so great for America’s cities."

Source: New York, 01/03/2023

"Thousands Will Live Here One Day (as Long as They Can Find Water)"

"In the increasingly dry Southwest, drought and climate change pose a challenge for developers, who need to find creative ways to provide water supply to new communities."

Source: NYTimes, 01/02/2023

"Ahead of Major Court Case, E.P.A. Revises Clean-Water Protections"

"A new rule revives an older set of protections for rivers, marshes and waterways, setting aside changes in the Obama and Trump administrations that led to years of legal wrangling." "The Biden administration is working to complete a clean water regulation before a Supreme Court ruling that could complicate the government’s ability to protect wetlands and other waters."

Source: NYTimes, 01/02/2023
January 10, 2023 to January 12, 2023

2023 Ten Across Summit

Registration for journalists is free to attend Ten Across' third in-person summit, in Houston. Panels will examine pressing resilience, sustainability and equity issues impacting the region including climate change challenges related to water, heat and energy; infrastructure and equity; the future of democracy; and risk planning.

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