Government

Much of what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency accomplishes, whether cleaning up water, shoring up infrastructure or reducing climate change, is done through its grants program. To help track that spending, the latest Reporter’s Toolbox points reporters to an enhanced EPA grant database tool that lets you search by geography and across other databases. More on how to make the most of it.

When covering rural America, mainstream media often defaults to stereotypes steeped in politics and ignores the diversity that actually exists there, as expanding news deserts exacerbate the problem. Reporter Claire Carlson on why this matters — including in discouraging investment around climate change or resource industries urban dwellers depend on. Here’s how journalists can report richer, more nuanced stories about rural people and places.

A new federal rule to cut power plant pollution and carbon dioxide emissions promises to escalate a yearslong, highly partisan battle at the core of U.S. climate change policy. Our Issue Backgrounder lays out the shifting regulatory approaches from the administrations of George W. Bush to Joe Biden, and notes the legal tug-of-war that has heightened the importance of another big player — the Supreme Court.

Plans for two new U.S. facilities that will use hydrogen instead of coal to make steel hold the promise of decarbonizing this essential but dirty industry. But don’t expect overnight change. Reporter Maria Gallucci looks at the complexities of making the switch, from ditching the ​blast furnace to reducing pollution all along the supply chain.