Urban heat is a serious environmental killer, with numerous culprits making it worse each year for many cities. But there are ways to lessen the impacts too, ranging from more trees to greener roofs. This week’s TipSheet has info on how to report on the problem of urban heat, as well as on its solutions.
The system of national parks in the United States contains hundreds of units, and many more stories near you ... if you just know where to start. This week’s TipSheet offers six key issues likely to come up at nearby parks, plus three dozen resources to help track down your local angle.
The estuaries that proliferate across the United States can be hard to define — and protect. But their role in a healthy environment makes them a crucial focus of good reporting. The latest Issue Backgrounder explores their importance, the many challenges they face, and how to track the agencies and programs meant to protect them.
A journalism teaching project planned to cover local energy inequities. That was before Hurricane Irma swept Florida. In the end, inspired student reporters moved community leaders to action with human-centered, data-driven stories focused on solutions. Journalist and educator Cynthia Barnett shares the lessons in our latest EJ Academy column.
The Great Lakes are not only the largest fresh water system in the world, supplying drinking water to tens of millions. They also face a range of environmental woes that make them ready fodder for reporters. This week’s TipSheet runs down some ongoing developments, plus key resources to cover them.
They may not be the sexiest topics on the environmental agenda. But building codes and zoning can become a matter of life and death when natural disasters strike. This week’s TipSheet runs down the reporting challenge when floods, earthquakes and wildfires threaten your coverage area.
Health risks from unsafe drinking water afflict many, not only around the world, but in the United States too, especially the poor, ethnic minorities and those in remote rural areas. The latest Issue Backgrounder looks at this undercovered environmental justice story, and offers ideas and resources for how reporters can cover it.
Lead is not just poisoning much of the U.S. drinking water supply. It’s also a threat to millions of the nation’s children, who continue to ingest lead paint chips from older housing stock decades after lead paint was banned. This week’s TipSheet explores this perennial problem and offers resources for local coverage.
"BarbiAnn Maynard tossed a thick stack of blue papers, years of her water bills, on the table. One side of each water bill showed what she owed. On the other side were notices of drinking water violations—high levels of carcinogenic chemicals—found in Martin County, Kentucky’s water supply. By the time she received them in the mail, the toxins had been in the water for months."
"The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday gave the green light to two class-action lawsuits filed by residents of Flint, Michigan who are pursing civil rights claims against local and state officials over lead contamination in the city’s water supply."
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