"The Senate late Thursday confirmed Charles Sams III to lead the National Park Service, making him the first Senate-confirmed director since the Obama administration."
Freedom of access to government scientists is just one narrow facet in a worsening crisis in scientific integrity at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The new WatchDog Opinion argues that whether it’s about self-interested industry lobbying over climate change or the regulation of chemicals, there’s an assault on science itself — and the news media has a role to play.
A new project on toxic risks has yielded a tool making it far easier to use data from the Toxics Release Inventory to report on hotspots. Reporter’s Toolbox offers a guide to ProPublica’s impressive “Sacrifice Zones” special report, which maps cancer-causing industrial air pollution. Plus, join an in-depth virtual tutorial on the ProPublica tool co-sponsored by the Society of Environmental Journalists.
"The Trump administration repeatedly interfered with efforts by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year to issue warnings and guidance about the evolving coronavirus pandemic, six current and former health officials told congressional investigators in recent interviews."
"John Kerry, the U.S. special envoy for climate change, on Friday described fossil fuel subsidies as the “definition of insanity,” denouncing measures taken by governments that artificially lower the price of coal, oil or gas."
"After two weeks of lofty speeches and bitter negotiations among nearly 200 nations, the question of whether the world will make significant progress to slow global warming still comes down to the actions of a handful of powerful nations that remain at odds over how best to address climate change."
A government plan to address a class of so-called “forever chemicals,” widespread in the environment and implicated in human health effects, will pick up speed in 2022. But whether the effort will solve problems around PFAS remains to be seen. The latest TipSheet outlines the challenge, the EPA plan and smart ways to cover the story in your area.
After an 18-month buildup, a one-day U.N. Food Systems Summit earlier this fall generated hundreds of commitments to end global hunger and a dizzying array of alliances dedicated to the cause. Despite controversies surrounding the summit, this groundbreaking event highlighted opportunities for reporting on food and food systems. Award-winning agriculture journalist Chris Clayton shares his insights.
"Negotiators at COP26 are unlikely to deal with the challenges posed by climate migration, a failure that some experts say shows “a lack of political will.”"
The COVID-19 outbreak has left little unchanged — including how environment reporters do their jobs, given that many experts believe the disruption of the human-wild interface could be the source of the next deadly virus. The new Backgrounder makes the case in this analysis, looking at how societies — and journalists — handled this pandemic and must prepare for possible future outbreaks.
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