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SEJ's
Fund for Environmental Journalism Awards $57,332 to Support Stories on
Environmental Justice and Religion-Environment Connections
100%
of Funds Awarded to Stories About Underrepresented Communities
September
20, 2021 — The Society of Environmental Journalists' Fund for Environmental
Journalism has
awarded $57,332 for 12 projects selected through the Spring 2021 round of
competition for stories on two topics: environmental health and justice in the
United States; and religion, climate and environment connections. Through these
grants, SEJ will:
- Fund
Journalists:
12 professional journalists, photographers and editors will receive stipends of
up to $2,000 each.
- Increase
Representation:
100% of the story projects focus on under-represented communities or share
diverse perspectives on environmental issues.
- Support
Local Stories:
More than 90% tell the story of a local community, ranging from the rubber
factories of Akron, Ohio to the sacred groves of Meghalaya, India.
"We
are especially pleased that 100% of Fund for Environmental Journalism grants
were awarded to projects that will increase coverage of marginalized communities
that have too often been overlooked or left out of news coverage," said SEJ
Executive Director Meaghan Parker. "We are very grateful to our generous funders
for providing the essential financial support that will make it possible for
environmental journalists to report these undercovered stories and most
importantly, for the public to learn more about these important environmental
challenges and connections."
This
independently juried competition is generously underwritten by The Arthur Vining
Davis Foundations, Environmental Defense Fund, The Religion & Environment
Story Project, the Hewlett Foundation and other foundation and individual donors
to the Fund for Environmental Journalism, including donors to the "Lizzie" Fund
for stories on environmental health, in memory of Elizabeth "Lizzie"
Grossman.
The
recipients of the Fund for Environmental Journalism Spring 2021 Round
are:
Environmental
health and justice in the
U.S.: | |
Yvette
Cabrera for "Toxic Trails"
An
investigation of the legacy of industrial lead pollution in urban residential
neighborhoods, as well as the policy decisions that have led to the
environmental conditions and lead soil contamination faced by residents in these
areas. | |
Claire
Caulfield (pictured left) and Ku'u Kauanoe for "Oahu's Dumping
Ground"
Honolulu
Civil Beat's reporting project will shine a light on the story of those who've
had to bear the brunt of Oahu's trash. How has the presence of landfills
affected the surrounding neighborhoods, especially in the case of long-term
health impacts and property values? What political structures and external
forces are at play in terms of deciding the future of land use on Oahu's west
side? And why was the west side chosen as the island's dumping ground in the
first
place? | |
Lee
Chilcote for "Ask The Land Environmental Reporting Initiative"
The
collaborative (Collaborative NewsLab @ Kent State University, The Land,
Northeast Ohio Solutions Journalism Collaborative, ideastream, WKSU, La Mega
Media) will utilize two-way texting to give voice to underrepresented
communities in shaping local news coverage. Through relationships with
neighborhood-based organizations and other community partners, Ask The Land will
recruit neighborhood residents to engage in community conversations; source
environmental justice stories directly from these communities at the grassroots
level; provide local news coverage about environmental issues for residents and
stakeholders in these communities in an easily accessible way; and provide
members of the community with a place to ask questions and seek support and
advice about the environmental justice and equity issues that affect
them. | |
Emily
Holden (pictured left) and Sara Sneath for "Drained: How the Energy Industry Is
Siphoning Away Louisiana's Precious Water Resources"
Industrial
water users pull more groundwater from Louisiana than any other state. The state
is losing groundwater faster than it can be replenished, which is causing
saltwater to encroach into freshwater aquifers and land to sink in coastal areas
already vulnerable to sea level rise. But the state still lacks a comprehensive
plan to manage its water
use. | |
Diana
Kruzman for "Up In Smoke: The Public Health Impacts of Wood-Burning
Stoves"
Across
the United States, more than 11 million people rely on burning wood for heat,
releasing soot that has been proven to be toxic to human health. This story will
explore the effects of wood smoke on public health in low-income communities and
communities of color, as well as investigate the impact of wood stove changeout
programs on reducing
pollution. | |
Yanick
Rice Lamb for "Unintended Consequences: The Rubber Industry's Lingering Health
Impact Amid COVID-19"
Tire-making
jobs are mostly gone in the former Rubber Capital of the World, but the industry
still has a lingering impact on health in Akron, Ohio, which is a microcosm of
deindustrialized communities. This project takes a closer look at the
association between industrial pollutants and autoimmune conditions, such as
multiple sclerosis, lupus and sarcoidosis. People with these underlying
conditions are at greater risk of contracting COVID-19 and face greater
challenges in keeping it at bay.
Religion,
climate and environment
connections: | |
Richard
Brown for "Land, Water, Blood: The Battle for Kekchi Territory in
Guatemala"
Land
and water conflicts are driving migration from Guatemala to the US, and
Indigenous Kekchi Maya communities are on the front lines. They face land and
water grabs by powerful business interests, and their peaceful efforts to
protect their territory are being met with a tide of killings and
criminalization. This project will explore the goals and methods of Kekchi
defense-of-territory campaigns, investigate claims that climate change is
supercharging water conflict in the area and investigate allegations that US
companies — especially fruit companies and sugar importers — are profiting from
the land and water grabs through land leases and commodity
exports. | |
Barbara
Fraser for "Enchanted Lakes and Laudato Si': Indigenous and Catholic Views of
Our Relationship With the Natural World"
Respect
for the interdependence of all life is common to Indigenous cosmovisions,
ecology and Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common
Home." It is reflected in the relationship between the Kukama people and the
spirits inhabiting the Marañón River in Amazonian Peru. But fishers say
the madres, or protective spirits, are abandoning the enchanted lakes that used
to provide sustenance for their families. With Radio Ucamara, a Catholic
Church-affiliated station with a largely Kukama team, this project will explore
the convergences and divergences among the scientific, Indigenous and Catholic
views of the relationship between humans and other-than-human species, and how
climate change could affect both ecosystems and
cosmovisions. | |
Melissa
Godin (pictured, left) and Alex Knott for "Clean Energy or Environmental
Injustice: The Indigenous Struggle to Protect a Sacred River From Hydroelectric
Exploitation in the Ecuadorian Amazon"
In
2017, Ecuadorian electricity generation company Genefran S.A. began to construct
a hydroelectric dam along the Piatua River in the Amazonian province of Pastaza,
Ecuador. Although the dam is part of a larger plan to shift Ecuador away from
its heavy reliance on fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, constructing the
dam would virtually destroy the river that Kichwa Indigenous communities rely on
for their livelihoods. For the past four years, Kichwa communities have
protested against the dam's construction (which they were never consulted
about), and have taken their case to court. But the judge has said that in order
to rule in their favour, Kichwa communities need to prove their historical
existence along the river and provide evidence for why the river is 'sacred' to
them within their spiritual practice. Now, Kichwa communities are scrambling to
find proof of their existence, working with anthropologists to translate their
culture into evidence for the
courts. | |
Tasmiha
Khan for "How Muslims Are Motivated by Islam To Approach Climate Care and
Climate Action"
Khan
will be exploring how Muslims and Islamic groups are taking care of the climate
and how that is grounded
theologically. | |
Timothy
Schuler for "Place of Refuge"
Despite
a growing consensus among environmental scientists that Indigenous knowledge and
stewardship are critical to combatting the effects of climate change, Native
Hawaiians continue to fight for basic human rights in their own homeland. In
recent years, pu'uhonua (historically, sites of sanctuary) are being revived as
spaces of both refuge and resistance. This project aspires to make visible the
essential connections between Hawaii's climate future and the long history of
dispossession experienced by its native population, examining pu'uhonua as an
emergent framework and physical response to ongoing economic injustice. Photo
credit: Kat
Araujo | |
Neha
Thirani Bagri (pictured, left) and Sara Hylton for "Meghalaya’s Sacred Groves:
How Community and Tradition Can Protect Our Natural Resources"
Sacred
groves are tracts of forests that are revered and preserved because of their
spiritual and cultural significance. They play an important role in conservation
and are often repositories of biodiversity, rare ancient trees, endangered
species and perennial water sources. This story will focus on the Indian state
of Meghalaya, where 125 groves are administered by Indigenous tribal
communities. Photo credit (Hylton): Jacobia
Dahm | |
About
the Fund for Environmental Journalism
SEJ's Fund for Environmental
Journalism invests
in public service reporting on environment and the journalists who produce
it. FEJ grants support development and dissemination of significant coverage
that otherwise could not be completed. Winning projects will be selected by an
independent jury of journalists based on newsworthiness, topical relevance,
publication plan, and track record of the applicant, among other factors.
Fund
for Environmental Journalism story project grants from 2011 – 2020 have been
funded by the Bullitt Foundation, Burning River Foundation, Compton Foundation,
Cornell Douglas Foundation, Cornelius King Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable
Foundation, The Energy Foundation, Grantham Foundation for the Environment,
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, The Heinz Endowments, The Hewlett Foundation,
The Nature Conservancy, The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Walton Family Foundation,
The Wilderness Society, Wyss Foundation and individual members and friends of
the Society of Environmental Journalists.
Grantees
retain full editorial control of FEJ-funded coverage. Donors have no right of
review and no influence on story plans made possible in part by their
contributions. Binding agreements between donors and the Society of
Environmental Journalists and between SEJ and grantees of its Fund for
Environmental Journalism reinforce this policy of editorial
independence.
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