What We're Reading*
(*and listening to and watching... )

What We’re Reading is a slate of the current pieces that inform and provide insight into our work and the environmental data landscape, updated monthly and curated by the team.

What We're Reading

March 2024

Climate Crisis

Read: Kicking Native People Off Their Land is a Horrible Way to Save the Planet

Robert A. Williams, Jr., New York Times

Environmental Justice

Read: Illinois EPA must revamp its permitting process after Chicago activists file civil rights complaint

Siri Chilukuri and Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco, Grist

Data Governance

Read: Empowering Communities in Kenya: The Rise of Community Data Stewards in Shaping Sustainable Development

United Nations Development Programme

Civic Voice

Read: ‘The EPA needs to humble itself’: why some US non-profits are turning down agency funds

Nick Tabor, The Guardian

Open Source

Read: Axios' February Newsletter

Axios

February 2024

Climate Crisis

Read: In 2023, organized labor became core to the climate movement

Katie Myers, Grist

Environmental Justice

Read: For Real Environmental Justice, We Need Community Input into Federal Rules

Darya Minovi, Union of Concerned Scientists

Data Governance

Read: The People Have a Right to Climate Data

Justin S. Mankin, The New York Times

Civic Voice

Read: Meet the communities trying to take over their local electric utility

Akielly Hu, Grist

Open Source

Read: The Internet Con:How to Seize the Means of Computation

Cory Doctorow

January 2024

Climate Crisis

Read: A Sustainable Internet for All - Issue 7

Branch Magazine

Environmental Justice

Read: UN declares PFAS pollution in North Carolina a human rights violation

Katie Myers, Grist

Data Governance

Read: In this together: Combining individual and collective strategies to confront data power

My Data, Aapti Institute, Datasphere Initiative, and Connected by Data

Civic Voice

Read: Public outcry against carbon capture in Louisiana growing

Terry L. Jones, The Lens

Open Source

Read: Publishing your agency’s software as open source puts you at a major advantage.

Waldo Jaquith

Community Science

Read: The best forest managers? Indigenous peoples, study says.

Maria Parazo Rose, Grist

2023

December 2023

Climate Crisis

Read: Climate data can save lives. Most countries can’t access it.

Zoya Teirstein, Grist

Environmental Justice

Read: Here’s what’s at stake for Indigenous peoples at COP28

Anita Hofschneider, Grist

Data Governance

Read: Data Refusal From Below: A Framework for Understanding, Evaluating, and Envisioning Refusal as Design

Jonathan Zong and J. Nathan Matias, ACM Journal on Responsible Computing

Civic Voice

Read: A Tangle of Rules to Protect America's Water is Falling Short

Dionne Searcey and Delger Erdenesanaa, The New York Times

Open Source

Listen: Big Tech Won’t Revitalize Indigenous Languages

Tech Won't Save Us Podcast

Community Science

Read: To keep track of salmon migrations in real time, First Nations turn to AI

Spoorthy Raman, Mongabay

November 2023

Climate Crisis

Read: The Great Cash-for-Carbon Hustle

Heidi Blake, The New Yorker

Environmental Justice

Read: Gov. Newsom Signs Right To Repair Bill Into Law

Evan Symon, California Globe

Data Governance

Read: Geographies of Digital Exclusion: Data and Inequality

Mark Graham and Martin Dittus, Oxford Internet Institute

Civic Voice

Read: Democrats unveil ‘most comprehensive plan ever’ to address plastics problem

Joseph Winters, Grist

Community Science

Read: Alleviating Environmental Health Disparities Through Community Science and Data Integration

Mónica D. Ramírez-Andreotta, Frontiers

September 2023

Climate Crisis

Read: Why the United States undercounts climate-driven deaths

Zoya Teirstein, Grist

Environmental Justice

Read: EPA Approved a Fuel Ingredient Even Though It Could Cause Cancer in Virtually Every Person Exposed Over a Lifetime

Sharon Lerner, ProPublica

Data Governance

Read: Break barriers in soil data stewardship by rewarding data generators

Tegbaru B. Gobezie & Asim Biswas, Nature

Open Source

Read: Open (For Business): Big Tech, Concentrated Power, and the Political Economy of Open AI

David Gray Widder, Sarah West & Meredith Whittaker, SSRN

Community Science

Read: The Santa Barbara Charter: Broadening Participation in Environmental Data Science

Environmental Data Science

Artificial Intelligence

Read & Interact With : Artificial Worldviews

Kim Albrecht

August 2023

Climate Crisis

Read: Climate Connections: A warming planet, pathogens, and diseases

Zoya Teirstein, Grist

Environmental Justice

Read: Chicago State Climate Change Lab Aims To Give South Siders The Data Needed To Fight For Environmental Justice

Maxwell Evans, Block Club Chicago

Data Governance

Read: Collective Data Rights and Their Possible Abuse

Asaf Lubin, Temple Law Review

Open Source

Read: Wikipedia’s Moment of Truth

Jon Gertner, New York Times Magazine

Community Science

Read: Data Center Fights

Anne Pasek, Experimental Methods and Media Lab

Artificial Intelligence

Listen: How can AI help with climate change?: A conversation with MIT's Priya Donti

Volts Podcast

July 2023

Climate Crisis

Listen: The Wild Wild West of Climate Modeling

America Adapts, The Climate Change Podcast

Environmental Justice

Read: Supreme Court Keeps Navajo Nation Waiting for Water

Anna V. Smith, High Country News; Umar Farooq and Mark Olalde, ProPublica

Data Governance

Read: Operationalizing digital self-determination

Stefaan G. Verhulst, Data & Policy

Civic Voice

Listen/Read: The Book I Wish Every Policymaker Would Read

Jennifer Pahlka and Ezra Klein, The Ezra Klein Show

Open Source

Read: Free software, sustainability and social movements

Interview with Silvio Rhatto, Tech for Forests

Community Science

Read: In search of answers at the Salton Sea

Caroline Tracey, High Country News

Artificial Intelligence

Listen: Don’t Fall for the AI Hype w/ Timnit Gebru

Tech Won't Save Us

June 2023

Climate Crisis

Read: Reporting on climate adaptation is a mess - here's how to fix it

Richard J T Klein, Nella Canales and Biljana Macura, Climate Home News

Environmental Justice

Read: In the Game of Musical Mines, Environmental Damage Takes a Back Seat

Ken Ward Jr., Mountain State Spotlight, and Alex Mierjeski with data analysis by Scott Pham, ProPublica

Data Governance

Read: A new way to put climate data to work

Joel Gurin, Apolitical

Civic Voice

Read: 'Rights' of the river: NC bill seeks unique protection for Haw

John Deem, Winston-Salem Journal

Open Source

Resource: Pathways to Open Science

Community Science

Read: Pathways for diversifying and enhancing science advocacy

Fernando Tormos-Aponte, Phil Brown, Shannon Dosemagen, Dana R. Fisher, Scott Frickel, Norah MacKendrick, David S. Meyer, John N. Parker; Science Advances

May 2023

Climate Crisis

Read: A transition to clean energy was supposed to be equitable. Instead, it’s hurting Indigenous communities.

Sarah Sax, Grist

Environmental Justice

Search: FACT SHEET: President Biden Signs Executive Order to Revitalize Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All

The White House

Data Governance

Read: Responsible data stewardship

Open Data Institute

Civic Voice

Listen/Read: Biden Administration to Curb Toxic Pollutants From Chemical Plants

Coral Davenport and Lisa Friedman, The New York Times

Open Source

Read: Exploring the Intersection of Openness and AI: Questions for Consideration and Collaborative Dialogue

Zuzanna Warso, Paul Keller, & Alek Tarkowski, Open Future

Community Science

Read: Citizen Science and Law

Citizen Science Theory and Practice

April 2023

Climate Crisis

Read: AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2023

IPCC

Civic Voice

Read: Exploring Citizen Science over Time: Sensing, Technology and the Law

Anna Berti Suman and Edwin Alblas, Sustainability

Open Source

Read: Collaborative Advantage: Creating Global Commons for Science, Technology, and Innovation

Leonard Lynn and Hal Salzman, Issues in Science & Technology

March 2023

Climate Crisis

Read: Biden Administration Approves Huge Alaska Oil Project

Lisa Friedman, The New York Times

Environmental Justice

Read: In a growing petrochemical hub, the East Palestine derailment triggers ‘an uneasy feeling’

Eve Andrews, Grist

Data Governance

Read: Data Co-ops: How Cooperative Structures Can Support Women's Empowerment

Astha Kapoor and Bapu Vaitla, data2x

Civic Voice

Listen/Read: How Liberals - Yes, Liberals - Are Hobbling Government

Ezra Klein feat. Nicholas Bagley, The Ezra Klein Show

Open Source

Read: Resource and Data Hubs

Open Data Enterprise

February 2023

Climate Crisis

Read: As the Colorado River Shrinks, Washington Prepares to Spread the Pain

Christopher Flavelle, The New York Times

Environmental Justice

Search: The Uproot Project Database

The Uproot Project

Data Governance

Read: Data-driven government: Cross-case comparison of data stewardship in data ecosystems

W. van Donge, N. Bharosa & M.F.W.H.A. Janssen, ScienceDirect

Civic Voice

Listen/Read: Colorado River in Crisis: A Times series on the Southwest’s shrinking water lifeline

The Los Angeles Times

Open Source

Read: FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Announces New Actions to Advance Open and Equitable Research

The White House

Community Science

Read: Data Stories and Climate Sensing

Data Refuge Storytelling

January 2023

Climate Crisis

Read: A Critical Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Kari De Pryck & Mike Hulme, Cambridge University Press

Environmental Justice

Read: New web tool by Drexel lab helps you access refinery pollution data

Sophia Schmidt, WHYY.org

Data Governance

Read: Data Ethics in the Participatory Sciences Toolkit

CitizenScience.org

Civic Voice

Listen: There's Been a Massive Change in Where American Policy Gets Made

Ezra Klein & Jacob Grumbach, The New York Times

Open Source

Read: Billion-dollar NASA satellite launches to track Earth’s water

Jeff Tollefson, Nature.com

Community Science

Read: Crossing the Fenceline: Critical Reforms to California’s Petroleum Refinery Emissions Monitoring Law

EarthJustice.org

2022

December 2022

Climate Crisis

Read: Here’s Where the U.S. Is Testing a New Response to Rising Seas

Christopher Flavelle, The New York Times

Environmental Justice

Read: In Baytown case, Exxon seeks limit on citizens' right to sue over pollution

James Osborne, The Houston Chronicle

Data Governance

Read: Safe Passage: Options for Data Portability in the Humanitarian Sector

Collaborative Cash Delivery

Civic Voice

Read: Opinion: Science Has a Communication Problem – and a Connection Problem

Paul M. Sutter, Undark

Open Source

Read: 5 Things about Critical Data Center Studies

Mél Hogan, Dustin Edwards, and Zane Griffin Talley Cooper, CommonPlace

Community Science

Read: Biden-Harris Administration Announces $53 Million for 132 Community Air Pollution Monitoring Projects Across the Nation

EPA

November 2022

Climate Crisis

Read: Why climate despair is a luxury

Rebecca Solnit, New Statesman

Environmental Justice

Read: Despite promises, California doesn’t know how many people died in record summer heat wave

Hayley Smith, LA Times

Data Governance

Read: A Mixed-Methods Investigation into Barriers for Sharing Geospatial and Resilience Flood Data in the UK

Luke Waterman, Mónica Rivas Casado, Emma Bergin & Gary McInally, MDPI

Civic Voice

Read: Tax the rich for climate action? Protect towns from floods? It’s on state ballots this November.

Blanca Begert, Grist

Open Source

Read: Open-weather: Speculative-feminist propositions for planetary images in an era of climate crisis

Sasha Engelmann, Sophie Dyer, Lizzie Malcolm & Daniel Powers, Science Direct

Community Science

Read: Congress is spending millions on new air monitors. Will it make a difference?

Lylla Younes, Grist

October 2022

Climate Crisis

Read: U.S. ratifies global treaty curbing climate super-pollutants

Steven Munson, Washington Post

Environmental Justice

Read: Higher Ground

Jake Bittle, Grist

Data Governance

Read: Making Government Data Publicly Available: Guidance for Agencies on Releasing Data Responsibly

Hugh Grant-Chapman & Hannah Quay-de la Vallee, Center for Democracy & Technology

Civic Voice

Read: Brief - Breakthroughs for All: Delivering Equitable Access to America’s Research

White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

Open Source

Read: Fishing for Sustainability – The promise of equitable data stewardship

Suha Mohamed & Vinay Narayan, The Data Economy Lab by Aapti Institute

Community Science

Read: Residents are a City’s Best Source of Climate Change Data

Sarah Amandolare, Yes Magazine

September 2022

Climate Crisis

Read: Harm's Way

The Center for Public Integrity

Environmental Justice

Read: How Boeing created a nature preserve that may also preserve pollution

Jaimi Dowdell and Andrea Januta, Reuters

Data Governance

Read: Without appropriate metadata, data-sharing mandates are pointless

Mark A. Musen, Nature

Civic Voice

Read: An Enduring System of Local Deliberative Democracy: The 21st Century Legal and Normative Structure of Massachusetts Town Meeting

Rebecca Townsend and Carmin C. Reiss, Journal of Deliberative Democracy

Open Source

Read: Memo - Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research

Office of Science and Technology Policy

Community Science

Read: Sentinels

Anna Berti Suman, Branch Magazine

August 2022

Climate Crisis

Listen: How Biden can address climate change through executive action with Jean Su & Maya Golden-Krasner

David Roberts, Volts Podcast

Environmental Justice

Read: A New Dataset Integrating Public Socioeconomic, Physical Risk, and Housing Data for Climate Justice Metrics: A Test-Case Study in Miami

Marco Tedesco, Carolynne Hultquist, and Alex de Sherbinin in Environmental Justice

Data Governance

Read: Governing data and artificial intelligence for all: Models for sustainable and just data governance

European Parliament

Civic Voice

Read: Nashville Heat Mapping Campaign

Memorial University Gazette, Jeff Green

Open Source

Read: The Environmental Impact of Research Infrastructures: Publishers, Open Science, and the Climate Crisis

Metropolitan Government of Nashville & Davidson County

Open Source

Read: Le Guin and data questions

Public Policy Team at Open Data Institute

Community Science

Read: Western Oil and Gas Spills Tracker

Center for Western Priorities

July 2022

Climate Crisis

Read: As Federal Climate-Fighting Tools are Taken Away, Cities and States Step Up

Maggie Astor, New York Times

Environmental Justice

Look at: Prison Agriculture Lab

Data Governance

Listen: Improving Governance with Data: Building Data Collaboratives for the 100 Questions Governance Domain

The GovLab, Uma Kalkar & Stefaan Verhulst

Civic Voice

Read: Building Northern Capacity

Memorial University Gazette, Jeff Green

Open Source

Read: The Environmental Impact of Research Infrastructures: Publishers, Open Science, and the Climate Crisis

Cathleen Berger & Chris Hartgerink

Other

Read: A Conversation with Mimi Ọnụọha

DataSciencexDesign, Natalie O'Shea

June 2022

Climate Crisis

Read: A Just Transition for Farmworkers

Sarah Sax, High Country News

Environmental Justice

Read: Block-by-block data shows pollution’s stark toll on people of color

Darryl Fears, Washington Post

Data Governance

Listen: Data Labs Playbook

Beeck Center for Social Impact & National Governors Association

Civic Voice

Read: Wicked Problems in Public PolicyUnderstanding and Responding to Complex Challenges

Brian Head

Digital Rights

Read: The Future of Data Science Anthology

Ciera Martinez & others

May 2022

Climate Crisis

Listen: Hot Take Podcast

Mary Annaïse Heglar and Amy Westervelt, Crooked Media

Environmental Justice

Read: DOJ announces new office focused on environmental justice

Rachel Frazin, The Hill

Data Governance

Listen: Pandemic Tracking and the Future of Data

Delaney Hall, 99% Invisible

Open Source

Read: Opening Up to Science

Chelle Gentemann, Christopher Erdmann & Caitlin Kroeger, Issues in Science & Technology

Civic Voice

Listen: In Wisconsin, small towns want more regulations for big farms

Diana Kruzman, Grist

Land Health

Read: There are millions of acres of 'failing' rangelands, data shows

Kylie Mohr, High Country News

April 2022

Climate Crisis

Read: The world's most ambitious climate goes is essentially out of reach

Shannon Osaka, Grist

Environmental Justice

Read: In a Michigan City, Environmental Justice Gets a Critical Test

Farah Kader, Undark

Data Governance

Read: A Value-Driven Approach to Building Data Infrastructures: The Example of the Midwest Collaborative

Jessica Cunningham, et. al., HDSR

Open Source

Read: "Shared Data," a short story from an alternate future

Malka Older, Popular Science

Civic Voice

Listen: David Hsu on the grassroots policy that lets communities control own energy supply

David Roberts, Volts Podcast

Labor

Read: Internal Report Describes 'Incredibly Toxic Work Environment' in New Chemicals Division

Sharon Lerner, The Intercept

March 2022

Climate Crisis

Read: Climate change causing widespread and irreversible impacts, says IPCC

Adam Vaughn, NewScientist

Environmental Justice

Read: A new environmental justice tool disregards race. We put it back in.

Naveena Sadasivam and Clayton Aldern, Grist

Data Governance

Read: Promoting collaboration at the national and local level to strengthen data governance

Flor Serale and Mercedes de los Santos, Open Data Charter

Digital Rights

Read: We Don’t Have the Right: A Decolonized Approach to Innovation

Shayna Robinson, Branch Magazine

Civic Voice

Listen: Damages podcast

Amy Westervelt, Critical Frequency

February 2022

Climate Crisis

Read: Best Practices in Local Climate Action Planning: Recent Developments in Local Climate Action Plans

Cynthia Harris, Environmental Law Institute

Environmental Justice

Read: A Landmark Environmental Precedent Was Just Set in Virginia

Crystal “Red Bear” Cavalier Keck, The Nation

Data Governance

Read: Open up guide: Using data to advance climate action

Open Data Charter and World Resources Institute

Digital Rights

Read: (dis)Info Studies: André Brock, Jr. on Why People Do What They Do on the Internet

Logic Mag

Civic Voice

Listen: Democrats Chase Shiny Objects

The Ezra Klein Show

Read: House of Representatives to launch new digital service team

John Hewitt Jones, FedScoop

Open Source

Read: Climate action in the open

Katya Abazajian, Civic Source

January 2022

Climate Crisis

Read: Chile Writes a New Constitution, Confronting Climate Change Head On

Somini Sengupta, New York Times

Read: Decentralising Digital: Artefacts from Hopeful Futures

Decentralising Digital, Branch

Environmental Justice

Read: ‘Cultural resources are not a renewable thing for us.’

Sarah Sax, High Country News

Civic Voice

Read: Texans have an opening to envision an environmental agency that works for everyone

Michael Coleman, One Breath Partnership

Read: A Community Shapes Environmental Justice Legislation

Lorelei Kelly, Beeck Center

Open Source

Read: What Sci-Hub’s latest court battle means for research

Holly Else, Nature

2021

December 2021

Climate Crisis

Read: The ‘last mile’ for climate data supporting local adaptation

Louis Celliers, Maria Manez Costa, David Samuel Williams and Sergio Rosendo, Global Sustainability

Environmental Justice

Read: ‘Cancer has decimated our community.’ EPA’s Regan vows to help hard-hit areas, but residents have doubts.

Darryl Fears, The Washington Post

Data Governance

Listen: Indigenous Climate Knowledges and Data Sovereignty

James Rattling Leaf, Sr. and Krystal Tsosie, Jacquelyn Gill, Ramesh Laungani, Warm Regards Podcast

Civic Voice

Read: Methods and Leading Practices for Advancing Equity and Support for Underserved Communities through Government

Performance.gov

Open Source

Read: Next Wave Openness

Michael Weinberg, personal blog

November 2021

Climate Crisis

Read: Localized Data: The Pathway to Climate Change Solutions

Olasimbo Sojinrin, Danielle Getsinger, Bruno Sánchez-Andrade Nuño; Data.org

Read: COP26: New financing mechanism to plug gaps in climate data, bolster response

Down to Earth

Data Governance

Read: Emerging models of data governance in the age of datafication

Marina Micheli, Marisa Ponti, Max Craglia, Anna Berti Suman; Big Data & Society

Read: Getting started with data governance

Anouk Ruhaak, Mozilla

Environmental Justice

Read: A California law gave the people power to cut pollution. Why isn’t it working?

Naveena Sadasivam, Grist

Read: Poison in the Air

Lylla Younes, Ava Kofman, Al Shaw, Lisa Song, Maya Miller; ProPublica

Civic Voice

Read: Let Us See It

Gregg Mitman, Slate

October 2021

Climate Crisis

Read: Environmental Data is Critical to Fighting the Climate Crisis: Data Stewardship Can Put It In the Right Hands

Amrita Nanda, Suha Mohamed, The Bastion

Data Governance

Read: The Data is Ours!

Ben Tarnoff, Logic

Community Science

Read: Intersections between Open Science Hardware (OSH) and Citizen Science: Reflections Following CitSciVirtual 2021

Anne Bowser, Shannon Dosemagen and Alexandra Novak, Wilson Center

Civic Voice

Read: The Key to Stronger Local Democracy: Equitable Engagement

Mark Funkhouser and Steven Bosacker, Route Fifty


August 2021

Climate Crisis

Read: COVID’s lesson for climate research: go local
Alice C. Hill, Nature

Read: An Indigenous firefighter explains how to better manage wildfires
Benji Jones, Vox

Data Governance

Read: City Data Commons against City Greenwashing
Renata Avila and Guy Weress, Branch Magazine

Community Science

Read: Environmental data collection by citizens is a right
Anna Berti Suman, Dutch Research Council

Watch: My Octopus Teacher
Craig Foster, Netflix

Civic Voice

Read: Zoom Does Not Reduce Unequal Participation: Evidence from Public Meeting Minutes
Katherine Levine Einstein, David Glick, Luisa Godienz Puig, Maxwell Palmer, Boston University