"Plastic producers have known for more than 30 years that recycling is not an economically or technically feasible plastic waste management solution. That has not stopped them from promoting it, according to a new report."
When Inside Story co-editor Rocky Kistner reviewed video statements from first-place winners of the Society of Environmental Journalists 2023 reporting awards, he found a series of striking insights into the work of environmental journalism. From environment as a true crime story and going beyond the headlines, to covering communities at risk and through powerful interests, a look at nine highly effective approaches to telling environmental stories.
"A new report aims to lay the foundation for future legal action against oil and plastics companies for deceiving the public about the efficacy of plastics recycling."
"There have been more than 1,000 huge leaks of the potent greenhouse gas methane from landfill waste dumps since 2019, the Guardian can reveal."
"The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed to designate nine toxic “forever chemicals” as “hazardous constituents” under the nation’s law for cleaning up ongoing pollution, in a move that would enable states to require cleanups if the substances are released."
"A group of 25 California counties have sued Elon Musk's Tesla, claiming the electric vehicle maker mishandled hazardous waste at its facilities across the state."
"A local official said proper authorities were notified, but state regulators said they weren’t made aware of the blaze until an inspection two weeks after the fire began."
"One of the objections to utility-scale solar power that I hear most often is that local communities will be left to cover the costs of cleanup at the end of a project’s life. But state and local rules in nearly all of the country are clear about who pays: The developer or the owner is responsible for restoring the land once a project is no longer operating."
"A team of UCLA researchers has put a new spin on the 1970s rock classic “Dust in the Wind” — only this one is grimmer and grimier than the original hit by Kansas. They found that wind picks up microplastics from human-sewage-based fertilizers at higher concentrations than previously known, and may be an “underappreciated” source of airborne plastic bits, flakes and threads."
Nothing may seem more personal than a home flooded by heavy rains. But the latest TipSheet points out that for local environmental reporters, there’s a bigger story to be told: how your community regulates stormwater and storm sewers, especially in the face of climate change-driven extreme precipitation. More than a dozen reporting ideas and resources.
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