People & Population

Ignoring COVID-19 Link, EPA Leaves Lax Soot Standard in Place

As researchers are finding that soot and other forms of fine particulates in the air may actually make people more vulnerable to the coronavirus, the EPA decided earlier this month against tightening related standards under the Clean Air Act. The latest TipSheet explains why the decision matters, provides deeper context and offers story ideas and resources.

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"As Bolsonaro Keeps Amazon Vows, Brazil’s Indigenous Fear ‘Ethnocide’"

"President Jair Bolsonaro is moving aggressively to open up the Amazon rainforest to commercial development, posing an existential threat to the tribes living there."

"URU EU WAU WAU TERRITORY, Brazil — The billboard at the entrance of a tiny Indigenous village in the Amazon has become a relic in less than a decade, boasting of something no longer true.

“Here, there is investment by the federal government,” proclaims the sign, erected in 2012, which is now shrouded by fallen palm tree fronds.

Source: NY Times, 04/21/2020

"The ‘Profoundly Radical’ Message of Earth Day’s First Organizer"

"One day in the fall of 1969, Denis Hayes, a graduate student at Harvard, snagged a 10-minute meeting with Gaylord Nelson, a United States senator from Wisconsin who had been talking up his idea for a national teach-in about environmentalism."

Source: NY Times, 04/21/2020

When the Crisis Was Immense, SEJ Award-Winner Went Narrow

How do you gain perspective on a widespread public health disaster? Award-winning reporter Apoorva Mandavilli shares valuable lessons on using a small lens to cover a big story — no, not COVID-19, but the deadly 1984 gas leak in Bhopal, India. And as she explains in this Inside Story Q&A, this decades-old story never really went away in the first place.

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April 20, 2020

How Strikes and Community Coalitions Can Address the Crises We Are Facing

The Leap presents a webinar, 6pm ET, on how a property service union in Minnesota, representing 4,000 janitors who clean corporate office buildings, went on strike with support of environmental justice groups during their recent contract fight. Their lessons learned can be applied to our current moment, when bargaining for the common good is a tool we all need to address a global pandemic and economic crisis.

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"A U.S. Tribe’s Uphill Battle Against Climate Change"

"For several years, Fawn Sharp has seen her tribe on the coastline of Washington state lurch from crisis to crisis: rising sea levels have flooded the Quinault Indian Nation’s main village, and its staple sockeye salmon in nearby rivers have all but disappeared – a direct hit to the tribe’s finances and culture."

Source: Reuters, 04/14/2020

Go-To Books for Understanding and Surviving a Pandemic

If you’re looking for perspective in your reporting connected with the coronavirus story, it might help to turn to the extensive library of non-fiction books offering insight into disease and epidemics. Our own Bob Wyss offers a helping hand, with a select list of the most useful texts. Plus, links to resource lists for many more, in the latest BookShelf.

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April 8, 2020

After the Pandemic: Health Care in Crisis

The pandemic has laid bare the poor condition of health systems around the world and shows that health care as a human right remains elusive for many people. The current health crisis is severely affecting low-income communities and people of color. And that won’t end when the pandemic does – the health impacts of climate change will keep those challenges alive. What steps must be taken now to protect those most vulnerable? A discussion for journalists. 11:00 a.m. ET; registration required.

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