Environmental Studies

The vast and widely used PFAS family of chemicals is causing serious worries across the country, as it turns up in more and more drinking water systems. Pressure to regulate it is also growing, but with mixed results. This week’s TipSheet offers a detailed look-ahead on this big, developing story, with a walk-through of the context, what the EPA is (and isn’t) doing, and why states are stepping up.

When EPA falls short on regulation of pesticides, might states step into the breach? That’s exactly what happened in June when Hawaii banned toxic organophosphate chlorpyrifos. To take a closer look, this week’s TipSheet reports on how federal regulation opens the door for state, or even local, preemption and offers angles and resources for environmental reporters.

​It’s a blockbuster — literally. Homes by the tens of thousands are at risk of being lost to coastal flooding in coming years, communities broken up thanks to climate change. This week’s TipSheet tells you how to find the data to tell the story and provides examples of model reporting.

​The tale of the Flint, Michigan, drinking water crisis is told anew in a just-released book by a key protagonist in the tragedy. Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha’s “What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City” is written with a grace, clarity, honesty and passion that our BookShelf editor Tom Henry says brings a unique perspective to this important story of American environmental injustice.

A key figure in the Flint, Mich., drinking water crisis, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, talks with SEJournal’s Between the Lines about her new book on the tragedy, and how she hopes telling the tale of the intersection of environmental injustice, racism, poverty and democracy might provide inspiration for other communities.

​Visual storytelling can serve as a primary narrative tool, especially when it comes to human impacts on the environment. That’s the case made by acclaimed former National Geographic photo editor Dennis Dimick in this feature interview, that delves into his unexpected journalistic career.