"In a long series of court proceedings, permits allowing the fracking and acidizing of oil wells in federal waters off the coast of California were prohibited by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today [Friday].
As drought continues to afflict the southwestern United States, New Mexico PBS correspondent and producer Laura Paskus writes that environmental journalists must bring home its impact on local communities, while translating the science, making the connection with climate change and holding public officials accountable. Plus, reporting resources and a reminder that the story is too big for any one journalist.
A casual query from an editor prompted an investigative reporter to pair up with a data journalism reporter at a partner news organization to dig into the risks that thousands of dry oil wells across California posed to surrounding communities, including many low-income Latino neighborhoods. How the resulting award-winning series came together, in an Inside Story Q&A with reporter Mark Olalde.
"California will end winter in a perilous position as record-shattering dryness converges with lagging water conservation efforts in nearly every part of the state, officials said Tuesday."
"Nyla Olsen’s eyes moisten with rage as she recalls the day in early October when a surge of putrid water rolled out of the Dominguez Channel and turned life in Leeward Bay Marina into “a horror movie.”"
"California is back in the driver’s seat as it steers the nation toward a future of cleaner cars and light trucks. The Biden administration on Wednesday reinstated the state’s authority to set motor vehicle pollution standards stricter than the federal government’s."
"More than 80 environmental groups and other organizations on Monday urged California Governor Gavin Newsom to impose tougher rules promoting electric vehicles even as the state is moving faster than President Joe Biden's administration."
"After a series of storms drenched the region with a record 9.4 inches of rain in December, the Los Angeles River became a roiling, violent torrent in its concrete channel, before finally spilling into the Pacific Ocean."
"California’s severe drought, which seemed to be retreating after soaking storms in October and December, is now all but certain to continue into a third year after the driest January and February in recorded history."
"Botanist Maria Jesus has made a career out of trying to protect wild places where rare plants are making their last stand, and field work can mean bivouacking alone in a pup tent. Take the Inyo rock daisy, which only grows in the crevices of cliff walls in two largely roadless areas of the southern Inyo Mountains near Death Valley National Park."
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