Where do all those recyclables actually go? This week’s TipSheet dives into the trash to find a story worth telling — of troubling overseas dumping, problematic local incineration and a fraying patchwork of U.S. regulation. Plus, several dozen questions you might want to ask, a pair of pro tips and a dozen resources to track the story in your area.
"The iconic New Orleans party favors are getting an eco-friendly makeover."
"‘It’s honest dollars,’ says one canner, but it’s not easy work – canners plan meticulous routes and often work long hours". "“It’s good for the environment,” says Anthony Pemberton, arranging the recyclable empty bottles and cans in his shopping cart."
"The 1939 World’s Fair was a testament to cork’s primacy in consumer packaging. But a little-known substance called plastic was waiting in the wings."
"In the closing months of World War II, Americans talked nonstop about how and when the war would end, and about how life was about to change. Germany would fall soon, people agreed on that. Opinions varied on how much longer the war in the Pacific would go on.
"Residents of cities like Chester, outside Philadelphia, fear a rise in pollution from incinerators after China’s recycling ban".
"Virginia lawmakers have approved legislation to require the state’s largest electric utility to excavate and clean up unlined coal ash pits."
It’s a “make or break” year for a range of environmental and energy issues, advise leading journalists at the Society of Environmental Journalists’ annual “2019 Journalists’ Guide to Energy & Environment” event in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 25. The gathering also featured a surprise appearance by a top EPA official, who was questioned about administration policy on climate change. Read our coverage of the forum in this SEJ News report.
With 2019 in full swing, the SEJournal offers an analysis of the year ahead in environment and energy news, with an overview of our full special report, the “2019 Journalists’ Guide to Energy & Environment.” Plus, don’t miss SEJ’s Jan. 25 event with top reporters to help you keep track of the big stories on the beat. RSVP here to attend in-person or online.
U.S. courts will be a key venue of environmental conflict in 2019, as the Trump administration pushes back against an extensive array of long-standing environmental law. This special edition Issue Backgrounder looks at seven key legal disputes, including cases involving climate change liability, intergenerational equity and policy, as well as conflicts over maintaining national monuments, defining which waters are subject to anti-pollution rules, disposing of coal ash and extending offshore drilling.
"Add one more item to those “Out for 2019” lists : plastic straws. D.C. banned plastic straws in restaurants and other businesses effective Jan. 1, 2019, becoming the second major U.S. city to do so. Seattle made the change six months ago."
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