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Issue Backgrounder is a monthly SEJournal Online column to help journalists better cover emerging environmental issues, especially challenging or underreported topics. Each Backgrounder focuses on a specific environmental topic, offering key questions, basic answers, source contacts and other resources.

For questions and comments, or to suggest future Issue Backgrounders, email Backgrounder Editor Joseph A. Davis at sejournaleditor@sej.org.

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December 5, 2017

  • Battle Builds Over Science Integrity in Environmental Policy

    Purges of EPA science panels by Administrator Scott Pruitt are just one among many moves in an ongoing dispute over the integrity of the environmental sciences in government policymaking. The latest Issue Backgrounder takes a deep dive with a briefing on five likely battles ahead for the coming year.

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October 31, 2017

  • Amid the Fog of Policy, Reporting on Pesticide Regulation

    Pesticides are a big environmental story. And under Trump, they are much in the news. But pesticide regulation, and its political, environmental and public health fallout, is an older and more complex tale. The Backgrounder explains how the rules work (and don't), and provides leads and resources for your reporting.

     
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September 26, 2017

September 5, 2017

July 11, 2017

  • To Report on Drinking Water, Know Its Source

    Safe drinking water is a long-standing challenge left unmet all across the United States. As our latest Issue Backgrounder explains, telling the story of drinkable water requires digging beneath complex relationships, understanding the sources of drinking water and much more. Here's help to do it.

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June 13, 2017

May 23, 2017

  • Lead in Drinking Water Remains Widespread Problem

    More stories about lead contamination of drinking water are unfolding around the country, even as the Flint disaster lingers. A new Issue Backgrounder details how lead gets into drinking water, how it leads to health problems among the most prevalent in the United States, and what solutions might address the crisis.

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March 28, 2017

  • Trump Review of Auto Emissions Standards Upsets Deal

    Has President Donald Trump really unraveled Obama-era auto mileage standards and the climate policy they supported? Far from it, explains our latest Backgrounder. Here's why true change on auto emissions will take much more than a presidential fiat. And get angles and sources to report the ongoing issue. 

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March 7, 2017

  • Get Wise on Water Rule

    Wondering what WOTUS is? Or how the Clean Water Rule relates to the Clean Water Act and to the Section 404 permitting program meant to prevent the destruction of U.S. wetlands? Our Beat Basics column explains the history and background of the rule to help you cover White House, EPA and court action likely ahead.

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February 28, 2017

  • More Controversy in Pipeline for Pipelines

    Keystone XL and Dakota Access may be the biggest pipeline stories so far, but they're far from the last, as dozens of other pipeline proposals come into play. Track this developing beat with our latest Issue Backgrounder, which provides a walkthrough of legal and regulatory challenges, and a case-by-case rundown.

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SEJournal Online is the digital news magazine of the Society of Environmental Journalists. Learn more about SEJournal Online, including submission, subscription and advertising information.