Fluoridated drinking water has helped limit tooth decay in the United States for decades. But that could come to an end in the Trump administration, if fluoride nonfan Robert F. Kennedy Jr., slated to head Health and Human Services, has his way. In the first installment of SEJournal’s new weekly EJ TransitionWatch column, we examine the challenge to this public health success story. Plus, questions to ask and resources for your reporting.
"NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday he will nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, putting a man whose views public health officials have decried as dangerous in charge of a massive agency that oversees everything from drug, vaccine and food safety to medical research, Medicare and Medicaid.
"The Biden administration on Wednesday endorsed a land exchange that would allow a controversial gravel road to be built through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Southwest Alaska."
When Illinois downplayed the results of long-delayed PFAS testing in the state’s public water supply, Chicago Tribune reporter Michael Hawthorne revisited a story he had first covered two decades before. His investigation uncovered dangerous practices threatening public health, won him accolades and moved the needle on state policy. How he went about it, in the new Inside Story Q&A.
In any disaster, among the most vulnerable populations are the residents of nursing homes. Yet many communities may simply not be ready to protect them, despite a complex patchwork of state, federal and local regulatory oversight. That means environmental journalists should get on the case, reporting the risk in their locales, advises the latest TipSheet. Insights, plus a dozen story ideas and reporting resources.
"Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told supporters on an online organizing call this week that former President Donald J. Trump had “promised” him “control” of the nation’s public health agencies, should Mr. Trump win the election next week. The Trump campaign, however, would confirm no such commitments."
A Biden administration initiative that commits to allocating 40% of federal investments to disadvantaged communities plagued by overpollution is an environmental justice breakthrough, writes columnist Yessenia Funes. But it’s also a program with weaknesses, such as how it factors in race or keeps track of impacts. What is Justice40, what has it missed and what is its future?
What was once benignly dubbed biosolids is more accurately tagged toxic sludge. And some of it may be finding its way into our food. The latest TipSheet reports how that came to be despite (or perhaps because of) Clean Water Act regulation, and how hard it is to calculate the potential harms. Plus, more than a dozen reporting ideas and resources for this highly localizable story.
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