News and views from SEJ's 18th annual conference in Roanoke, VA

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 SEJ2008
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SEJ's 18th annual conference, October 15-19, 2008, was hosted by Virginia Tech. If you attended the conference, we would appreciate your feedback very much.

On this page you will find cover stories and audios of several conference sessions, as well as photos and links to more coverage. Thank you to our volunteer recording team for your valuable time and efforts!

Conference attendees blogged at the independent SEJ2008. SEJ posted conference photos on our Flickr photo page, sej_photos. If you want to share your conference photos online, and if you use the free service Flickr, SEJ member Amy Gahran set up a Flickr group for SEJ08 photos that anyone can add photos to.

NOTE: It's critically important to SEJ to gather evidence on impact of our work. Please help us to keep SEJ strong and share links, copies of reporting generated or informed by this conference! Thanks!!! Contact Cindy MacDonald, SEJ's Web content manager.

Page Menu
Sunday, October 19
Breakfast Session: Breakfast, Books and... Berry
Breakout Author Session 1: Finding a Sense of Place: Appalachia in Literature and Journalism
Breakout Author Session 2: Exploring the Horizons: Natural History and Travel Writing
Post-Conference Tour: From the Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay

Saturday, October 18
Breakfast Plenary Session: Environmental Justice and the Poor
Concurrent Sessions 3: COAL: Coal Around the Globe
Concurrent Sessions 3: ENERGY: Beyond Corn: Making Biofuels from Grass, Trash and Algae
Concurrent Sessions 3: THE WATER: Are the Oceans Already Lost?
Concurrent Sessions 3: THE LAND: Are Suburbs the Next Slums? The Subprime Mortgage Meltdown as an Environmental Story
Concurrent Sessions 3: ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH: The Rollercoaster World of Toxicology
Concurrent Sessions 3: THE NATION: Diversity and Environmental Journalism
Concurrent Sessions 4: ENERGY: Take Two: Nuclear Power Reconsidered
Concurrent Sessions 4: THE CLIMATE: Climate Change Litigation: The Flood in the Courts
Concurrent Sessions 4: THE LAND: Animal Business: Wildlife Trafficking and International Law
Concurrent Sessions 4: ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH: Does Environment Trump Genetics? Teasing Out the Factors Affecting Women's Health
Concurrent Sessions 4: THE NATION: The Clean Air Act's Unfinished Business
Concurrent Sessions 4: THE CRAFT: Not-So-Idle Chatter: How Blogging and Social Media Can Build Your Career
Lunch and Plenary Session: Election 2008 and the Environment
Mini-Tour 1: Traffic Control, Progressive Urban Planning and Alternative Vehicles

Friday, October 17:
Breakout Breakfast Session: Covering Tragedies and Disasters: Trauma on Both Sides of the Pen, Computer and Camera
Opening Plenary: Old King Coal: What's His Role in America's Energy Future?
Concurrent Sessions 1: COAL: Almost Level: Mountaintop Removal Overview
Concurrent Sessions 1: THE CLIMATE: Climate Change and Agriculture
Concurrent Sessions 1: THE WATER: Can This Bay Be Saved?
Concurrent Sessions 1: THE LAND: Joy Ride or Ecocide? ORVs on Public Lands
Concurrent Sessions 1: ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH: Toying with Toxics: Childhood Exposure to Chemicals
Concurrent Sessions 1: THE NATION: Broken Bridges, Straight Pipes: The Environmental Impacts of an Aging Infrastructure
Concurrent Sessions 1: THE CRAFT: Environment Reporters of the 21st Century
Concurrent Sessions 1: COMPUTER LAB 2: Data Part 1: Translating Data into News
Keynote Address: R.K. Pachauri, Chairman, IPCC
Concurrent Sessions 2: COAL: Carbon Sequestration: Silver Bullet or Black Hole?
Concurrent Sessions 2: ENERGY: Energy 101: A Primer for Reporters
Concurrent Sessions 2: THE CLIMATE: Close Quarters: Could an End to Population Growth Help Stabilize the Climate?
Concurrent Sessions 2: THE WATER: Hydropower: Past, Present & Future
Concurrent Sessions 2: THE LAND: Biodiversity, People, and the Planet: An Appalachian Lesson
Concurrent Sessions 2: THE NATION: Environmental Policy, Public Opinion, and the Election
Concurrent Sessions 2: THE CRAFT: The Freelance Pitch-Slam

Thursday, October 16
Day Tour: Almost Level 1: Cutting Down Mountains for Coal
Day Tour: Healthy Food Shed
Day Tour: The Appalachian Trail — Land with a Past
Day Tour: Nuclear Power — from Ore to Volts

Wednesday, October 15
All-Day Workshop: Covering Climate Change and Our Energy Future in Rural America
Evening: Cousteaus: Continuing a Legacy
News and Announcements: Presentation materials for Wednesday all-day workshop Covering Climate Change and Our Energy Future in Rural America; SEJ Awards winners; Stolberg winner; TelevisionWeek coverage

Sunday, October 19, 2008

L-R: SEJ conference manager Jay Letto; author/speaker Wendell Berry; SEJ member Dale Willman; and SEJ executive director Beth Parke. Photo by Kate Lutz. Click to enlarge.
Breakfast, Books and... Berry

Breakout Author Sessions

Post-Conference Tour: From the Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay


Saturday, October 18, 2008

Breakfast Plenary Session: Environmental Justice and the Poor

Concurrent Sessions 3: COAL: Coal Around the Globe

Concurrent Sessions 3: ENERGY: Beyond Corn: Making Biofuels from Grass, Trash and Algae

Concurrent Sessions 3: THE WATER: Are the Oceans Already Lost?

Concurrent Sessions 3: THE LAND: Are Suburbs the Next Slums? The Subprime Mortgage Meltdown as an Environmental Story

Panelists discussed why many Americans appear to be leaving the suburbs in record numbers. Citizens are seeking better means of transportation and affordability as a result of economic changes in the U.S. "Many people are willing to rent or buy in places with transportation options, whether they be short drives, public transit, or walking," said Parris Glendening, president of Smart Growth Leadership Institute and former Governor of Maryland.

Rising gas prices and the current state of the economy are only a few reasons why many Americans are deciding to move to inner cities and trade their cars for public transportation. Empty-nesting Boomers and Generation Xers are choosing to relocate to more walk-able urban areas rather than suburban areas.

According to the Metropolitan Research Center at the University of Utah, America adds 100 million people faster than any other nation except India and Pakistan. As the demand for urbanization increases, "We are going to be gentrifying cities and closing areas — on steroids in the next 20 years," said Arthur "Chris" Nelson, presidential professor and director of Metropolitan Research.

Concurrent Sessions 3: ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH: The Rollercoaster World of Toxicology

Concurrent Sessions 3: THE NATION: Diversity and Environmental

When considering people of color make up 30 percent of the U.S. population, journalists seem to be quite the non-representative sample: only 11 percent of an average newsroom is staffed by minorities. In this session, the panel suggested ways in which journalists can provide coverage of environmental issues that is compelling to communities of color. Linking environmental issues with things that happen within our everyday life was one example of how to take angles of environmental stories that can help people relate to issues and understand them better. Marley Shebala, a senior reporter for The Navajo Times, explained that, "going out and reaching people, trying to provide information to help them understand" is a good start to getting the community involved in pertinent environmental issues. Framing the issue in a way that encourages people to be motivated and become pro-active can also spur community involvement and awareness. With the right information, the issues themselves have the power to bring people together.

Concurrent Sessions 4: ENERGY: Take Two: Nuclear Power Reconsidered

In this session, the political and economic factors affecting the nuclear industry in the near future were considered by freelance writer Jennifer Weeks and Margie Kriz, a staff correspondent for the National Journal. According to them, the Obama and McCain campaigns alike value the nuclear industry. Obama, being from Illinois, feels the pressure from the industry since his state has the most nuclear power plants in the country. McCain has promised 45 new power plants by 2030, a goal that is considered way too ambitious by most people actually within the industry. He has also emphasized the need to "recycle," or reprocess our nuclear waste, citing Japanese and French ingenuity in this area. Obama has mentioned the need to create green jobs. The stance on nuclear power of members of Congress was also discussed.

For the past 30 years, the nuclear industry has waned because Wall Street saw investments as too large, the relative affordability of coal in mind. The current financial crisis, in conjunction with possible prices being put on carbon emissions, sets nuclear power up as an increasingly appealing alternative for business interests. However, the shadowy problems that have plagued this energy source for the past half century persist today — namely, operational safety, means and location for the disposal of wastes, high cost of new plants, and the threat of possible terrorist attacks.

Weeks stressed the importance of weighing nuclear power against other sources of energy in regions that are experiencing growth and need energy. Renewable energy sources offer smaller, more incremental amounts of power in comparison to a nuclear power plant, but require just a fraction of the primary investment and do not require mined resources or high-level waste disposal to operate safely.

Deregulation in the industry makes firms want to maximize profits. Companies must plan for the great unknown with a traditional rate-of-return approach. Building of new reactors and license extensions are increasingly under way, since many of America's first power plants are approaching the end of their 20-year licenses and extensions.

Considering the amount of power produced and low cost of running an existing plant, extensions have been pretty much a no-brainer. An employee of the NRC in the audience verified this fact, and mentioned just a few which are having complications, namely, Beaver Valley and Oyster Creek. He discussed new reactor models being used in other parts of the world and under consideration for construction in the U.S. Also mentioned was the move of U.S. manufacturing jobs to places like Japan. Japanese companies have bought out several U.S. manufacturing companies like GE and Westinghouse already.

On the topic of the global nuclear industry, Kriz remarked that the global nuclear industry is simply as strong as its weakest link. The panelists agreed that openness is crucial in this respect so that countries operating nuclear facilities are under the supervision of the international community and can make use of the best practices.

Concurrent Sessions 4: THE CLIMATE: Climate Change Litigation: The Flood in the Courts

Concurrent Sessions 4: THE LAND: Animal Business: Wildlife Trafficking and International Law

Reported by Christopher Cox, Virginia Tech

The panel on wildlife trafficking consisted of freelance environmental writer and moderator Laurel Neme; the North American director of the World Wildlife Fund's TRAFFIC initiative Crawford Allan; the Northeast regional assistant special agent for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Salvatore Amato; and Peter Jenkins, the director of International Conservation for the Defenders of Wildlife.

Discussion covered areas including both legal and illegal wildlife trade, enforcement of regulations, and the role of the Internet. Panelist Amato informed the audience that online trafficking has drastically changed the dynamics of wildlife trade, with suppliers and consumers finding new ways of exchanging information and products. These changes in the industry have made it necessary for "undercover" agents of regulatory institutions to heavily rely on web-based investigation.

Allan presented a PowerPoint citing specific examples around the globe of illegal trade, including concerns on the emerging tiger-bone wine market, and the crisis status of the pangolin (scaly anteater) in Southeast Asia, the area Allan mentioned as the "major concern" in regard to wildlife trafficking.

Jenkins spoke on the dramatic 23 percent budget cut imposed on the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, despite a 50 percent increase in wildlife trafficking over the past decade. While trafficking is on the rise, increased and consistent funding for regulatory agencies will allow for more comprehensive inspection of ports to regulate the import and export of wildlife products, while providing support for agents who track this form of illicit trade on the web.

Concurrent Sessions 4: ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH: Does Environment Trump Genetics? Teasing Out the Factors Affecting Women's Health

Reported by Courtney Mitchell

The links between human health and environmental factors are extremely complex and not fully understood. It is hard to communicate environmental health as an "issue" to the public, because it is hardly cut and dry. However, Gwen Collman of National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) applauds current efforts to identify harmful chemicals and inform the public in order for people to make educated consumer decisions. Collman believes that one of the best ways a journalist can report on environmental health is to portray personal stories and make sure to maintain the credibility of their report by citing experts, not biased professionals.

Scientists struggle to compile comprehensive data in the face of gaps in scientific knowledge, like the lack of basic biological knowledge of female reproductive systems, poor public health records, and exposures being poorly understood at all life stages. However, the science has become much more definitive since the 1980s, when the method of determining links to environmental hazards consisted of asking recently diagnosed patients what they think they may have been exposed to.

Since there is still such a lack of understanding of normal human female reproductive biology, it is increasingly difficult to understand abnormalities. Therefore, the scientific data available linking environmental factors to women's health continues to be a work in process. Animal studies are useful in that there are numerous similarities between the endocrine systems of animals and humans. Real human studies are most important, but hard to conduct, because humans are not raised in controlled environments. Several current human research studies were discussed, such as The Sisters Study which tests air, water, and dust home samples as well as the hair, toenails, blood, and urine of 50,000 women who have sisters with breast cancer over a period of ten years.

Copies of a report titled "Hormone Disruptors and Women's Health: Reasons for Concern," which summarizes the outcomes of the Women's Reproductive Health and the Environment Workshop held in 2008, are available here.

An article that provides more in-depth information and data is titled "Advocate's Guide to State of the Evidence: The Connection Between Breast Cancer and the Environment" can be found here.

Journalists are encouraged to contact the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) to identify active and credible scientists in a wide range of research fields.

Concurrent Sessions 4: THE NATION: The Clean Air Act's Unfinished Business

Concurrent Sessions 4: THE CRAFT: Not-So-Idle Chatter: How Blogging and Social Media Can Build Your Career

Freelance journalist Amy Gahran and Leonard Witt, Professor of Communication at Kennesaw State University, discussed blogging and social media and how it can boost journalists' careers. The two panelists examined how to use programs like Twitter and blogging software like WordPress to help media stay relevant in public discourse.

Gahran, an avid blogger, asserted that blogs are beneficial in that they are allowing mass media to be more "human than in the past." According to Gahran, blogs allow anyone access — therefore they have a broad social appeal. Gahran suggested that journalists should use blogs as a tool to increase their notoriety in the media world. "Blogs help establish your personal brand," said Gahran, which is important because, according to Gahran, "There's no loyalty in the business. Zip. None. News organizations are laying you off like fleas."

Witt, who in addition to his teaching position is the author of the public journalism blog pj.net, said that blogs have a tremendous value — although it's not always instantly obvious. "Initially, I would say 'this is a waste of my time'," said Witt. After further investigation, though, Witt is now a proclaimed advocate of blogging. "It gives you more authority," he said. "It's paid off for me with a 60k grant and about 10 other things I can mention."

Lunch and Plenary Session: Election 2008 and the Environment

Reported by Christopher Cox, Virginia Tech

Moderator and 2008 Stolberg Award Recipient Margie Kriz began discussion by asserting that the 2008 election has included more mention of energy and environmental issues than any in her lifetime.

Congressman Nick Rahall of West Virginia fielded questions on the recent lift on the off-shore drilling moratorium, assuring the audience that the compromise still requires individual state and environmental regulatory approval before drilling begins.

Dave Jenkins, the government affairs director for Republicans for Environmental Protection, spoke on behalf of John McCain and provided a record of Senator McCain's commitment to curbing greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.

The Sierra Club's director of Global Warming and Energy Program, David Hamilton, asserted that while John McCain's support for renewable energy and a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions looks environmentally friendly, it lacks the depth included in the plans of his opponent, Senator Barack Obama.

Hamilton advocated for the Democratic nominee's platform because it internalizes economic, energy, and environmental concerns in terms of the over-arching goal of creating a "green" economy.

The panelists provided insight on the Presidential candidates' views as they addressed the audience's questions which ranged from Senator McCain's choice of Governor Sarah Palin (a newly converted believer in global warming) as his Vice Presidential nominee, to the varying definitions of "clean coal." What the panelists did agree on was the fact that the 44th President will have a very different perspective on environmental concerns than the current administration.

Mini-Tour 1: Traffic Control, Progressive Urban Planning and Alternative Vehicles

Friday, October 17, 2008

Breakfast Session: Covering Tragedies and Disasters: Trauma on Both Sides of the Pen, Computer and Camera

Moderator Mark Schleifstein of The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, Donna Alvis-Banks of The Roanoke Times, and Lawrence "Larry" Hincker, Public Relations Director at Virginia Tech, spoke on covering tragedies and disasters. Schleifstein, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, covered Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane ravaged New Orleans, destroying thousands of homes, including Schleifstein's as well as the homes of 40 percent of The Times-Picayune's staff.

Alvis-Banks, a lifelong resident of Southwest Virginia, worked as a reporter for The Roanoke Times during the April 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech. Alvis-Banks' philosophy on covering tragedies is that a reporter should "be a person first, and a reporter second."

Hincker, who had to handle the droves of press members that came through Virginia Tech in the days and weeks following April 16, 2007, described the "split-second decisions" he had to make the day of the tragedy, and the "unending sadness" he experienced in the months following.

Opening Plenary: Old King Coal: What's His Role in America's Energy Future?

Concurrent Sessions 1: COAL: Almost Level: Mountaintop Removal Overview

Concurrent Sessions 1: THE CLIMATE: Climate Change and Agriculture

To open the panel, moderator Dennis Dimick put agriculture in the context of the global climate crisis by highlighting the fact that agriculture uses more water than any other human endeavor in the world, nearly 70 percent (see the early 2008 feature story from National Geographic). Theo Dillaha added to Dimick's global perspective that the greatest risk involved with climate change is to people in developing countries; this is largely because of the climatic changes that affect the growing seasons. As Dillaha explained, climate change is causing greater variability rather than just warming, as the commonly used, but often misleading term, "global warming" implies. Dillaha, speaking from his experience as program director at the Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Collaborative Research Support Program, gave several examples from across the developing world of significantly impacted communities experiencing climate-related disruption to their agriculture.

Literally bringing the issue back to American soil, William Hohenstein, director of the Global Climate Change Program at the USDA, explained to the panel the conclusions of a recently published report from his agency detailing the current and projected effects of climate change on U.S. agriculture. These effects were manifold: water availability, pest migration, changing growing seasons, increased temperature stress on crops, livestock, and pollinators, variance in precipitation rates and types, and yield impact due to higher CO2 concentration. Jeffrey Moyer, also addressing U.S. agriculture, talked about the advantages that organic food production can have on mitigating the greenhouse gas emissions of large-scale agriculture. According to Moyer, the financial system isn't the only staple of the American economy that has been set up for failure; "I think it will become increasingly clear in the next few years that our food system is equally broken," said Moyer. In his opinion, conventional agriculture, and the policy structure that supports it, has created a system that does what is asked of it — provides cheap food, fiber products, and now sources of energy — but not what Americans should want from it — quality food products farmed using sustainable techniques that are not ecologically disruptive. Rodale Institute has found in its studies that organic farming techniques can not only produce the same amount of food as conventional farming, but that they can, according to Moyer, "sequester three times as much carbon."

Related Links:

Concurrent Sessions 1: THE WATER: Can This Bay Be Saved?

Reported by Sarah Lichtman

Panelists Bill Street, Ann Swanson, Richard Batiuk, and moderator Tim Wheeler discussed the fate of the Chesapeake Bay. And in answer to the session's ominous question, "can the bay be saved?" the panelists agreed on a conditional "yes." The condition being, of course, a lot of attention and effort.

The technology and science that goes into the monitoring of the Chesapeake Bay is some of the world's finest, yet the bay's water quality has not improved significantly in 25 years. In this session, experts discussed what still needs to be done to get the Chesapeake back to good health.

"We've seen success when we've taken strong action," said Bill Street, executive director of the James River Association. For example, when there was a big push to save rockfish, they rebounded with astounding numbers.

Panelists in this session stressed the need for federal pressure to reduce non-point source pollution. They also expressed worry over a generation of children that are now being raised with out any connection to nature. The hope, said Street, lies in a new movement towards "green" practices.

Concurrent Sessions 1: THE LAND: Joy Ride or Ecocide? ORVs on Public Lands

Concurrent Sessions 1: ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH: Toying with Toxics: Childhood Exposure to Chemicals

Concurrent Sessions 1: THE NATION: Broken Bridges, Straight Pipes: The Environmental Impacts of an Aging Infrastructure

Reported by Aisha Radford

At the opening concurrent session focusing on national environmental issues, panelists discussed America's failing infrastructures and the need for more funding to improve water systems, bridges, and transportation systems. Aging infrastructure continues to threaten America's economy and the quality of life of many of its citizens.

In the 2005 Report Card for America's Infrastructure, the U.S. received an overall grade of D. According to Andrew Herrmann, District 1 Director of the American Society of Civil Engineers, $9.4 billion per year is needed to eliminate bridge infrastructure problems.

Panelists agreed that establishing a plan for long term infrastructure development and maintenance must become a major priority for congressional leaders at federal, state, and local levels. Katherine Baer, Senior Director of Clean Water for American Rivers advocated to "have the Clean Water Act do what it is supposed to do, and be a technology driver."

Jack Schenendorf, Vice Chairman of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, focused his discussion on the need for America to push towards the development of a world-class transportation system in major metropolitan communities in order to get people out of their cars and into transit systems. "We can't reduce greenhouse gas and petroleum usage unless we invest in better transportation," he said.

Concurrent Sessions 1: THE CRAFT: Environment Reporters of the 21st Century

What are the characteristics of environment reporters of the 21st century? How do specialized journalists compare to general journalists in the United States?

David Sachsman, Mike Mansur, and Bud Ward discussed the findings of a study conducted between 2000 and 2005. The results showed that environment reporters are very similar to general reporters with only a few minor differences. One notable difference is that environment reporters often have more science education than other reporters. In addition, the study found that, when it comes to a newspaper's ability to carry specialized reporting, bigger is, in fact, better. Results of the study showed that the larger the newspaper's circulation the more likely it is that it will have specialized coverage of issues.

The biggest question that contemporary environment journalists are trying to answer is whether it would be more effective to adhere to the traditional standard of objectivity or to evaluate the facts and only present what they see as scientific truth, a method seen by some as advocacy rather than journalism. The quandry comes out of a tension between the traditional school of thought that journalists need to be completely objective, and the feeling of responsibility felt by many journalists to communicate a more subjective idea of truth, especially when it comes to covering pressing environmental issues. The blurring of the lines between objectivity, advocacy, and ethics is becoming more and more a prominent question for specialized reporters of the 21st century. The panel tries to open conversation on how the modern journalist can balance these issues.

Concurrent Sessions 1: COMPUTER LAB 2: Data Part 1: Translating Data into News

Class instructor David Poulson, associate director of MSU's Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, has made available his explanations and datasets for this session, which was repeated Saturday at 9:00 a.m.

Keynote Address: R.K. Pachauri, Chairman, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Concurrent Sessions 2: COAL: Carbon Sequestration: Silver Bullet or Black Hole?

Reported by Courtney Mitchell

Coal is responsible for 36 percent of carbon emissions in the United States and 50 percent of electricity is produced by coal-fired power plants. Though the panel brought diverse interests to the table, all agreed that carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) has the potential to save the coal industry in a world of possible CO2 caps. Sarah Forbes opened the discussion with a history of the carbon sequestration process. She emphasized that risk assessment and site selection are the most important aspects in that there must be sufficient cap rock and the capacity to hold carbon. After injection, the CO2 dissolves in the rock pores and forms solid carbonates over time, which causes the risk of leakage to decrease over time. Though this part of the CCS process is mostly understood, the environmental, health, safety, and economic risks associated with CCS are still being researched.

Carbon sequestration can be used for any source of CO2, not just coal. In fact, Bruce Braine stated that the natural gas and oil companies have been doing it for years on a very small scale. The success and effects of large scale operations are still very uncertain. However, Sarah Forbes referred to current projects where carbon has been successfully captured, liquefied, transported, sequestered and permanently trapped. She states that global cooperation of the research community is vital to the success of CCS.

Before one can inject carbon into the ground, it must be captured — which is a very expensive process. This is the most complicated issue because capturing carbon requires an average of 32 percent of the energy created at a power plant. If post-combustion capture techniques were utilized at existing pulverized coal power plants, it is estimated that energy costs would increase by 40 percent. Using oxygen combustion at these plants would possibly be much less expensive. Pre-combustion techniques applicable at integrated gasification combined cycle plants would require energy costs to be increased by 25 percent. American Electric Power is retrofitting the Mountaineer plant in New Haven, West Virginia with new chilled ammonia technologies which would use only 15 percent of the plant's energy to capture carbon. If the 2009 initial operation goes well, the company hopes to begin using this technology on a commercial scale by 2012.

All panelists agreed that CCS is not a silver bullet but that including this in a portfolio accompanied by nuclear power, renewable energy, improved energy efficiency, advanced coal generation, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles will significantly reduce carbon emissions and hopefully ward off climate change.

Concurrent Sessions 2: ENERGY: Energy 101: A Primer for Reporters

Dina Cappiello, Associated Press environmental reporter, Jonathan Cogan, chief press officer of the Energy Information Administration (EIA), and Catharine Richert, reporter for the Congressional Quarterly, hosted a session for beginning environmental reporters: Energy 101. Cappiello, with 10 years experience in the field, headed the discussion that gave reporters insight into finding valuable information about energy use and production in the United States.

Cogan introduced the EIA's website, and stressed the organization's "culture of neutrality." All the panelists stressed the usefulness of the website.

Catharine Richert, an expert on Congressional policy, spoke on relating bills passed in Washington, D.C. to more regional, or local, stories. She recommended two websites for journalists to collect information regarding environmental policies and companies: Thomas/U.S. Congress on the Internet and OpenSecrets.org

Concurrent Sessions 2: THE CLIMATE: Close Quarters: Could an End to Population Growth Help Stabilize the Climate?

Reported by Christopher Cox, Virginia Tech

Population is the "central cause in all the issues we're dealing with," moderator Constance Holden said. Two underlying questions shaped the panelists' discussion: "Why is population growing?" and "Why is it not covered in the climate change debate?"

Steve Curwood, the executive producer and host of American Public Radio's "Living on Earth" series, acknowledged the complexity inherent in explaining the causes of population growth, but believed mitigating poverty can have the greatest effect on stabilizing populations, citing the strong social institutions and stable population of Denmark as an example.

Robert Engelman, vice president of programs for the Worldwatch Institute, understands the sometimes toxic nature of discussing population growth. "You can't tell people how many children they can have," Engelman said, "but that is not the end of the story." Engelman advised the session's attendees to explore the correlates of population growth, and to highlight the shift from parents wanting to have "more children" to "more for their children."

Panelist Tom Horton, a freelance writer with recent work on population and climate change published for the Abell Foundation, suggested journalists should examine the "growth is good" economic culture of our country when covering the issue.

Throughout the discussion, panelists noted that foreign countries with varying population and consumption patterns can be used as templates for framing policy and discussion in the United States.

  • Session description.
  • The New Security Beat, blog of the Environmental Change and Security Program (ECSP) at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, posted a story about this panel session.

Concurrent Sessions 2: THE WATER: Hydropower: Past, Present & Future

Concurrent Sessions 2: THE LAND: Biodiversity, People, and the Planet: An Appalachian Lesson

Concurrent Sessions 2: THE NATION: Environmental Policy, Public Opinion, and the Election

It has become increasingly apparent that current U.S. energy policies are no longer enough to cut it in today's political climate and warming global climate. Accordingly, these energy policies have been a hot topic in the 2008 presidential campaigns. The presidential candidates' energy plans represent very different directions for the nation's energy and environmental policy. David Jenkins, government affairs director for Republicans for Environmental Protection, William Kovacs, vice president of the Environment, Technology, and Public Affairs department of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and David Sandretti, communications director for the League of Conservation Voters, convened on a panel moderated by Dan Radmacher, editorial page editor for The Roanoke Times, to discuss the presidential candidates' positions and the bearing of the 2008 congressional elections on environmental policy.

On many key energy issues, such as carbon emissions, eliminating dependence on foreign oil, nuclear technology, and government support for biofuels, the candidates have taken widely different stances. Obama has stated that he will turn carbon dioxide emission control entirely over to the EPA; McCain will likely leave regulation to legislators. McCain supports the construction of 45 new nuclear power plants to replace energy we now get from foreign oil; Obama's support for nuclear power is much more limited. Obama is in favor of continuing ethanol subsidies; McCain is opposed. Both candidates face the issue of quickly and effectively integrating the development of technology into the reduction of emissions.

The state of congress will greatly impact the direction of U.S. politics. For instance, a filibuster proof senate for the Obama administration would greatly change the direction of policy and the concessions made to Republican senators.

Concurrent Sessions 2: THE CRAFT: The Freelance Pitch-Slam

As a freelance writer, it is critical to get a top story. Not only must a freelancer have a well-written story for it to be published, they also have to be able to give a good story pitch.

The panel gave several tips to the session's many attendees. Having good, well coordinated visuals with an article is a good way to make the reader think about the environment. Journalists should look for new ideas and new innovations to get the attention of mass audiences, as most companies are not particularly looking for articles that have already been extensively covered. High quality writers find different approaches to make their angle on a story important to readers. As panelist Peter Aldhous stated, "Impatient audiences do not wonder what's going to be on National Geographic websites, instead they go to Google news or the main website of National Geographic to find links to other pages." Unique stories presented with an interesting headline and good pitch is what grabs the reader's attention to actually click links.

When journalists presented their story pitches to the panel, most often their topics were criticized as being too broad. The panel also encouraged freelancers to seek topics with global effects to make their stories more marketable. Often, target audiences reside in different countries, so stories should include the "wide angle view," tying in issues of international concern. Panelist Ted Chamberlain suggested that freelancers ask themselves "What would my article look like in a magazine" to get the best results.


Thursday, October 16, 2008

Day Tour: Almost Level 1: Cutting Down Mountains for Coal

Dennis Dimick, SEJ member and executive editor of National Geographic magazine, put together this amazing panoramic image of a mountaintop removal coal mine visited by tour-goers. The image is made up of 27 separate exposures of the Samples Mine in West Virginia, merged into one seamless image covering approximately 200 degrees angle of view. The large version is well worth a look (~5MB).

Day Tour: Healthy Food Shed

Day Tour: The Appalachian Trail — Land with a Past

Day Tour: Nuclear Power — from Ore to Volts


Wednesday, October 15, 2008

All-Day Workshop: Covering Climate Change and Our Energy Future in Rural America

Philippe and Alexandra Cousteau: Continuing a Legacy

SEJ board member Jeff Burnside, WTVJ NBC 6 News in Miami, looks on as Tim Thornton of The Roanoke Times speaks after receiving 1st place in the 7th Annual SEJ Awards for Reporting on the Environment, in the category Outstanding Small Market Reporting, Print. Photo courtesy Kate Lutz. Click to enlarge.
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