Government

Environmental Justice [7]

Health [9]

Pollution [11]

Region:

Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [13]

Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [14]

Visibility:

Public [16]

Read more about Grants Uncover Downside of Wood Stoves, Water Subsidy Impacts [1]

WTO Deal on Fishing Subsidies May Reduce Ocean Overfishing [17]

A new World Trade Organization agreement to limit global overfishing may yield important stories for environmental journalists, as billions of people around the world rely on already heavily exploited fish stocks as their main source of protein. This Backgrounder offers details on the pact and how it tries to address the problem, while providing resources for your reporting.

SEJ Publication Types:

Backgrounders [18]

Topics on the Beat:

Economy & Business [19]

Environmental Justice [7]

Fish & Fisheries [21]

Food [22]

Laws & Regulations [23]

Policy [25]

Water & Oceans [26]

Wildlife [27]

Region:

Asia [28]

Europe [29]

Visibility:

Public [16]

Read more about WTO Deal on Fishing Subsidies May Reduce Ocean Overfishing [17]

Can Qatar’s World Cup Really Be Carbon Neutral? [30]

Qatar — the world’s highest carbon emitter on a per capita basis — made big promises in its winning bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. But will they deliver? Doha-based journalism professor Craig LaMay writes that while sports megaevent hosts face increasing pressure to address environmental concerns, critical coverage of their follow-through is challenging, especially in countries with no free press or public right to government information.

SEJ Publication Types:

Features [31]

Topics on the Beat:

Economy & Business [19]

Energy & Fuel [5]

Infrastructure [33]

Technology [34]

Transportation [35]

Waste [36]

Water & Oceans [26]

Region:

Canada [37]

Africa [38]

Asia [28]

Europe [29]

Middle East [39]

Visibility:

Public [16]

Read more about Can Qatar’s World Cup Really Be Carbon Neutral? [30]

"USPS Will Make 40% Of Its New Trucks Electric, Up From 10%" [40]

"The U.S. Postal Service pledged Wednesday to electrify at least 40 percent of its new delivery fleet, an increase that climate activists hailed as a major step toward reducing the government’s environmental footprint."

Energy & Fuel [5]

Transportation [35]

Public [16]

Source: Washington Post [41], 07/21/2022

Read more about "USPS Will Make 40% Of Its New Trucks Electric, Up From 10%" [40]

"Crushed By Heatwaves, More Cities Are Hiring ‘Chief Heat Officers’" [42]

"This week, another heat wave is scorching parts of the South and the southern Plains. Across the Atlantic, the United Kingdom is bracing for dangerously high temperatures as a crippling heat sweeps across Europe. Drought and wildfires have again battered parts of the West, even as much of the summer lies ahead."

Disasters [43]

Public [16]

Source: Washington Post [44], 07/20/2022

Read more about "Crushed By Heatwaves, More Cities Are Hiring ‘Chief Heat Officers’" [42]

Beat Reporter Looks to Get Ahead of the Story [45]

As Brazil’s wetlands burned and as the country illegally shipped wood from the Amazon and scaled back environmental enforcement amid the pandemic, award-winning journalist Jake Spring of Reuters was there, telling tough, sometimes dangerous stories. Spring shares insights into his “just the facts” reporting, including the surprises and the lessons, and offers some practical advice in this Inside Story Q&A.

SEJ Publication Types:

Inside Story [46]

Topics on the Beat:

Forests [47]

Policy [25]

Region:

South America [48]

Visibility:

Public [16]

Read more about Beat Reporter Looks to Get Ahead of the Story [45]

As Federal Climate-Fighting Tools Are Taken Away, Cities, States Step Up [49]

"Across the country, local governments are accelerating their efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, in some cases bridging partisan divides. Their role will become increasingly important."

Public [16]

Source: NYTimes [50], 07/01/2022

Read more about As Federal Climate-Fighting Tools Are Taken Away, Cities, States Step Up [49]

How 'Rights of Nature' Is Recasting the Relationship Between Law and the Earth [51]

In 2006, a local government council in Pennsylvania concerned about sewage sludge dumping enacted the Western legal system’s first formal “rights of nature” instrument. Today, numerous countries have laws recognizing specific rights or even legal personhood for nature. As legal expert Alice Bleby explains, this new perspective arises from a wide range of contexts and plays out in many different ways.

SEJ Publication Types:

Features [31]

Topics on the Beat:

Activism [52]

Biodiversity [53]

Chemicals [54]

Environmental Justice [7]

Environmental Studies [55]

Fish & Fisheries [21]

Forests [47]

Laws & Regulations [23]

Policy [25]

Pollution [11]

Religion, Faith and Spirituality [56]

Water & Oceans [26]

Region:

California [57]

Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [58]

Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [59]

Africa [38]

Asia [28]

Australia & Oceania [60]

South America [48]

Visibility:

Public [16]

Read more about How 'Rights of Nature' Is Recasting the Relationship Between Law and the Earth [51]

EPA’s FOIA Report Updates Progress on Backlog Reduction [61]

The Freedom of Information Act offers critical access to journalists — that is, when it’s working well. The latest WatchDog Opinion digs into the latest reports from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to see how well it lives up to its FOIA requirements and finds that despite progress, the agency continues to fall short on important measures. Plus, insight into how to work the system.

SEJ Publication Types:

WatchDog [62]

Topics on the Beat:

Laws & Regulations [23]

Policy [25]

Region:

Visibility:

Public [16]

Read more about EPA’s FOIA Report Updates Progress on Backlog Reduction [61]

Critical Mistakes By USFS Caused Devastating New Mexico Wildfire: Report [63]

"The U.S. Forest Service made critical mistakes that caused a planned burn to reduce the threat of wildfires to explode into the largest blaze in New Mexico's recorded history, the agency said Tuesday. A new report found that employees made multiple miscalculations, used inaccurate models and underestimated how dry conditions were in the Southwest before lighting the flames."

Disasters [43]

Forests [47]

Public [16]