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Lisa Song

Lisa Song reports on the environment, energy and climate change for ProPublica.

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Lisa Song reports on the environment, energy and climate change.

She joined ProPublica in 2017 after six years at InsideClimate News, where she covered climate science and environmental health. She was part of the reporting team that revealed Exxon’s shift from conducting global warming research to supporting climate denial, a series that was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for public service. From 2013-2014 she reported extensively on air pollution from Texas’ oil and gas boom as part of a collaboration between several newsrooms. Lisa is a co-author of “The Dilbit Disaster,” which won a Pulitzer for national reporting. She has degrees in earth science and science writing from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Sacrifice Zones

¿Puede la contaminación del aire causar cáncer? Lo que usted tiene que saber sobre los riesgos.

Si usted vive cerca de ciertas instalaciones industriales, puede tener un riesgo estimado de cáncer más alto. Aquí hay respuestas a preguntas comunes, datos producto de una colaboración participativa y cómo compartir su experiencia.

Sacrifice Zones

Poison in the Air

The EPA allows polluters to turn neighborhoods into “sacrifice zones” where residents breathe carcinogens. ProPublica reveals where these places are in a first-of-its-kind map and data analysis.

Sacrifice Zones

Can Air Pollution Cause Cancer? What You Need to Know About the Risks.

If you live close to certain industrial facilities, you may have a higher estimated cancer risk. This may sound alarming. Here are answers to common questions, some crowdsourced tips and how to share your experience to help our investigation.

Lawmakers Question California Cap and Trade Policies, Citing ProPublica Report

California legislators asked the state Air Resources Board to review its forest offsets program after an investigation by ProPublica and MIT Technology Review found that up to 39 million carbon credits aren’t achieving real climate benefits.

The California Air Resources Board Challenges Our Carbon Credits Investigations. We Respond.

The California Air Resources Board wrote a letter critiquing ProPublica stories that showed flaws in its carbon offset program. Here’s where we disagree with the points the board made.

A Nonprofit Promised to Preserve Wildlife. Then It Made Millions Claiming It Could Cut Down Trees.

The Massachusetts Audubon Society has managed its land as wildlife habitat for years. Here’s how the carbon credits it sold may have fueled climate change.

The Climate Solution Actually Adding Millions of Tons of CO2 Into the Atmosphere

New research shows that California’s climate policy created up to 39 million carbon credits that aren’t achieving real carbon savings. But companies can buy these forest offsets to justify polluting more anyway.

Tracking the Trump Administration’s “Midnight Regulations”

The administration is rushing to implement dozens of policy changes in its final days. We’re following some of the most consequential and controversial.

Coronavirus

Rapid Testing Is Less Accurate Than the Government Wants to Admit

Rapid antigen testing is a mess. The federal government pushed it out without a plan, and then spent weeks denying problems with false positives.

The EPA Refuses to Reduce Pollutants Linked to Coronavirus Deaths

Particulate matter kills people. That was true before the pandemic, and new research has tied it to coronavirus deaths. But the EPA is ignoring scientists who say stricter particulate matter limits could prevent tens of thousands of early deaths.