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2025 David Stolberg Meritorious Service Award Winner: Mark Schleifstein

This annual award recognizes an SEJ member for their exceptional volunteer work. The 2025 Stolberg award goes to Mark Schleifstein (pictured, left), a founding member of the Society of Environmental Journalists and a retired, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate.

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Furry Envoys: China’s Rare Golden Monkeys Debut At European Zoos

"With their distinctive shaggy orange manes, pale blue faces and dense fur covering their hands and feet, it’s hard to mistake China’s endangered golden snub-nosed monkeys for any other animal. These rare and charismatic monkeys, unique to the frigid mountains of central China, have recently joined the country’s famous pandas as furry envoys to zoos in Europe for the first time... ."

Source: AP, 10/31/2025

"Trump Fossil Fuel Approvals Keep Coming Despite Government Shutdown"

"The government shutdown isn’t stopping the Trump administration from advancing its policy priorities, especially when it comes to fossil fuels." "Between Oct. 1 and Wednesday, the bureau approved 474 permits to drill on public lands."

Source: The Hill, 10/31/2025

Climate Change Made Hurricane Melissa Four Times More Likely: Study

"Fueled by unusually warm waters, Hurricane Melissa this week turned into one of the strongest Atlantic storms ever recorded. Now a new rapid attribution study suggests human-induced climate change made the deadly tropical cyclone four times more likely."

Source: Inside Climate News, 10/31/2025

Corps Approves Enbridge Pipeline Reroute Around Wisconsin Reservation

"The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Wednesday approved energy company Enbridge’s plans to reroute an aging oil pipeline around a northern Wisconsin tribal reservation."

Source: AP, 10/31/2025

Brazil’s Amazon Deforestation Falls 11% Even As Fires Surge To Record

"Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest fell by 11% from August 2024 to July this year, the government said Thursday, even as wildfires tracked by Brazil’s space agency surged to record levels amid a severe drought."

Source: AP, 10/31/2025

Judge Cuts Greenpeace Pipeline Protest Penalty In Half to $345 Million

"A North Dakota judge has ordered Greenpeace to pay damages of $345 million, reducing an earlier jury award after it found the environmental group and related entities liable for defamation and other claims in connection with protests of an oil pipeline nearly a decade ago."

Source: AP, 10/31/2025

"Inside EPA’s Hunt For Employees Who Signed The Dissent Letter"

"Emails obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News under the Freedom of Information Act shed light on the internal investigation that began within hours of the EPA “Declaration of Dissent” going public on June 30. In the following days, the administration sifted through names of those who had signed the letter, shared legal advice and responded by placing close to 150 employees on administrative leave while their computers and email accounts were searched."

Source: E&E News, 10/31/2025

EPA Let Companies Estimate Their Own Pollution. Real Emissions Are Far Worse.

"For decades, some big polluters were allowed to estimate their emissions using methods the government knew were often unreliable. Air monitors at coke manufacturers, chemical plants and other industrial facilities showed far higher emissions than the estimates, records viewed by ProPublica show."

Source: ProPublica, 10/31/2025

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