Abrahm Lustgarten
I report on climate change and how people, companies and governments are adapting to it.
Have a Tip for a Story?
I’m discreet and handle confidential communications and sources with extreme care.
What I Cover
I investigate the social and political consequences of our rapidly warming environment, focusing on how money and power influence policy. My reporting is science driven, and I embrace nuance and complexity, telling the stories that are most difficult to tell.
My Background
I have been reporting on environmental harm and the warming planet for ProPublica since its inception in 2008 and before that as a writer covering the global oil industry at Fortune. I’ve reported from around the world, including Iran, Russia, Indonesia and China. Throughout, my work has focused on the social and economic consequences of warming and the conflicting business interests that often drive them.
My most recent reporting has focused on global migration, finance and conflict associated with climate change. In 2024, I wrote about how climate pressures are driving far-right extremism and violence in the United States, especially around fears of immigration. In 2022, I investigated how the International Monetary Fund and global banks have paralyzed small climate-vulnerable nations with debt that makes it impossible for them to address their own climate risks. That work followed a three-part 2020 investigation into the potential displacement of billions of people and global climate-driven migration, both outside and inside the United States, which is also the subject of my third book, called “On The Move.”
This work — beginning with my early investigation into fracking in 2008 — has been recognized with honors, including a George Polk Award; a Scripps Howard Award; the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s communications award; and consecutive Whitman Bassow prizes from the Overseas Press Club. My 2015 series about water scarcity in the American West, “Killing the Colorado,” was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
Climate Benefits of Natural Gas May Be Overstated
New emissions estimates by the Environmental Protection Agency cast doubt on the assumption that gas offers a quick and easy solution to climate change.
Opponents to Fracking Disclosure Take Big Money From Industry
The Interior Department wades into controversy as it mulls whether to require drilling companies to disclose the chemicals they use to frack wells drilled on public lands.
Déjà-vu? The National Commission Report on BP’s Gulf Disaster Echoes Old Findings
Last May, President Obama established the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling to unravel the circumstances that led to the April 20, 2010 disaster in the Gulf. A sneak-peek chapter made public on Wednesday didn’t actually conclude anything new.
Science Says Methane in PA. Water Is from Drilling, Not Natural Causes
Testing has shown that methane gas in water wells across the country matches the methane being drilled for natural gas supplies. But a woman quoted in a New York Times report hinted that in Pennsylvania -- despite state official's conclusions to the contrary -- that may not be the case.
Corrosion Warnings at BP Facilities in Alaska: Here’s What the Data Mean
Following up on our earlier reporting, we explain what it means that 148 of BP's pipelines in Alaska have been ranked for "failure" by BP inspectors, according to documents we received from BP workers.
The Questions BP Didn't Answer
Full disclosure on the questions put to BP and how the company responded.
Furious Growth and Cost Cuts Led To BP Accidents Past and Present
An EPA attorney tried for 12 years to make oil giant BP operate safely. Now, recently retired, she says BP should be banned from doing business with the U.S. government. A ProPublica and PBS FRONTLINE investigation.