Covering the green stimulus with Russ Choma

Russ Choma talks about the challenges of green legislation. Photo by Molly Smith

Russ Choma kicked off the morning at the Green Economy Conference.  Choma is currently working for the Investigative Reporting Workshop, a site affiliated with American University in Washington D.C.  Since joining the Investigative Reporting Workshop he has focused mainly on renewable energy funds tied to the stimulus package.  His largest piece “Blown Away” received national attention as it showed how the stimulus funds were still heading overseas for clean-energy jobs.  It was reported in coordination with ABC World News Tonight and the Watchdog Institute.

Choma had plenty of helpful information and for any reporter.

Tips:

- Toss out any conceptions of what the “green economy” is – at least when it comes to stimulus.  It is just a big business like any other and should be treated with the same skepticism applied to other kinds of business reporting.

- Doesn’t hurt to ask – It is surprising how often people will answer.  Especially dealing with politics, the minority party is always looking to speak.  If all else fails, don’t be afraid to FOIA, the Department of Energy even has an online application.

- Look for experts –  Lawyers are a good place to start, government money = paperwork, paperwork = lawyers.  Analysts for publicly traded companies are easily found online.  Labor unions and environmental groups are often very knowledgeable, but reporters must be careful as this information often comes with some bias.

- Don’t skip the background check –  Lots of money often attracts people with a checkered past.

- Look beyond wind – According to the most recent number of grants through the stimulus package and section 1603 there are 497 non-wind farms to write about… each grant is a story itself.

Story Ideas:

Notable locals/followers – Each little story has its own significance.  The Pacific Missile Rang Facility at Barking Sands, Hawaii recently received a grant for renewable energy (a huge sign of institutional support).  Look for oddities, Bob’s Big Boy Burgers received a grant.

Patterns – Department stores are becoming  a common theme on the list of grants, Kohl’s has 10 projects and Wal-Mart has five.  Animal Care and Real Estate management are also becoming more and more common.

Bad data, good story – People aren’t filing the forms properly to receive grants.  ”David” in Wisconsin received $20,000 dollars for a project, but there is no more information than that.

Ethics – With the good intentions for environmental impact and huge amounts of money behind it, the lines between good environmental decisions and decisions good for the bottom line are bound to cross.

Common Editor Misconceptions:

There is nothing left to write about – Hardly, as of April only 47 percent of the stimulus package has entered the economy.

It is not a local story – It was and will continue to be huge news nationally, but every bit of funding is landing locally somewhere.

Stimulus Resources:

• - Recovery.gov
• - Recovery. org
• - ProPublica’s “Eye on the Stimulus”
• - USASpending.gov