The nation’s parks are generally thought to be pristine natural havens. But a recent study finds the overwhelming majority suffer from air pollution problems like smog and ozone. That makes for important local and regional news stories, per the latest biweekly TipSheet. Get background, story ideas, resources and more.
While environmental journalists often focus on regulatory wrestling matches in Washington, D.C., a seasoned New York Times investigative reporter argues the most important stories are those in the real communities where bureaucratic impacts are felt. Three-time Pulitzer winner Eric Lipton makes the case for public service in journalism that tells the environment story from the outside in.
"As debate cranks up over mandatory funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund on Capitol Hill, lawmakers are exploring ways to fix, nurture and maintain America's treasured public lands and waters on an increasingly tight budget."
"One year ago this week, the Interior Department's top lawyer instigated a sharp debate over tribal lands in Alaska with a prediction that a final answer could be forthcoming in 12 months. Which means, in theory, just about now."
"G20 nations have almost tripled the subsidies they give to coal-fired power plants in recent years, despite the urgent need to cut the carbon emissions driving the climate crisis."
"Jay Inslee, a 2020 presidential hopeful, released an expansive plan on Monday that attempts to capture and rein in the full range of what’s propping up the fossil-fuel economy, from big banks, to lax drilling laws, to federal subsidies."
"A federal court has ruled that an environmental review exemption by the Trump administration for a pipeline to extract water from the Mojave Desert is illegal." "The 43-mile pipeline was approved by the Trump administration after former Cadiz lobbyist David Bernhardt became deputy secretary of the interior."
"Andrew Wheeler, administrator with the Environmental Protection Agency, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson recently announced tighter standards for lead on window sills and the dust on your home floor."
"The reversal may not be enough to satisfy the courts, which have repeatedly faulted agencies for not calculating their actions’ carbon footprint."
"The White House proposed Friday that federal agencies no longer have to take a project’s long-term climate impacts into account when assessing how they will affect the environment, reversing a major Obama administration policy.
"A push by most European Union nations for the world’s biggest economic bloc to go carbon-neutral by 2050 was dropped to a footnote at a summit on Thursday after fierce resistance from Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary."
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