Anything related to air quality, air pollution, or the atmosphere
Abandoned oil and gas wells are found in significant numbers in some 27 states. Reporters who want to track their status can dig into several databases, but will need to support their data crunching with lots of shoe-leather and ground-truth reporting. Reporter’s Toolbox has insights into what the databases offer. Plus, a primer on API numbers.
"Chronic coastal contamination from the Tijuana River can end up in the atmosphere as “sea spray aerosol” — spreading far beyond the San Diego County beaches where it has long polluted the water, a new study has found."
"High Plains residents are used to wind and dust, but an ongoing drought and recent tropical-storm-level winds have brought some epic dust storms."
Now that kids are mostly back in school (and perhaps longing for snow days to send them back home), environmental reporters might want to start exploring some of the things that could make them sick. Not viruses, but potential pollutants. TipSheet explores the problem and why current law may do little to address it.
"The Biden administration on Friday restored the legal foundation of an Obama-era regulation governing mercury, a pollutant from power plants that can damage brain development in babies and cause heart disease in adults."
"A visit to East Palestine from the head of the E.P.A. and a White House pledge to lend more support were met with skepticism in the community."
"The Bureau of Land Management ignored requests for a public hearing on the proposed rules for venting and flaring methane on public and tribal lands, hindering community members’ efforts to reduce the impacts of gas releases."
"U.S. oil industry groups said on Monday they are concerned the Biden administration's proposed plan to crack down on methane emissions gives too much power to environmental advocacy groups, by forcing companies to react when third-parties report suspected leaks of the powerful greenhouse gas."
As part of our 2023 Journalists’ Guide to Energy & Environment special report, we’ve got highlights from last week’s reporter panel on the year ahead, led by #SEJ2023 conference co-chair Tom Michael (pictured, left). The focus was largely on the U.S. West, where challenges abound over issues like equitable siting of renewable energy infrastructure, regulating natural gas, managing wildfires and addressing the health consequences of climate-driven heat waves. Read our account, plus check out the full 2023 Guide.
"Emissions of a colorless, carcinogenic gas produced by facilities that sterilize medical equipment disproportionately affect low-income and minority neighborhoods but pose a risk to more than 14 million Americans, according to a report released Tuesday by the Union of Concerned Scientists."
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