Lisa Song
I report on the EPA and related agencies that oversee the environment, climate change and science.
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What I Cover
I cover how environmental regulations (or the lack thereof) affect communities, human health and the natural world.
My Background
I joined ProPublica in 2017 to cover environmental health and the fossil fuel industry. I’ve written about false solutions related to plastic recycling, carbon credits and biodiversity offsets. I’ve chronicled conflicts of interest in scientific research and regulators’ inability to curb major polluters. I’m currently focused on how the Trump administration is changing environmental protections. My reporting has led to regulatory change and has been cited in lawsuits.
Prior to ProPublica, I worked at Inside Climate News, where I was part of the reporting team that revealed Exxon’s shift from conducting global warming research to supporting climate denial. I co-wrote “The Dilbit Disaster,” which won a Pulitzer Prize for national reporting. I have degrees in earth science and science writing from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The Polluter Just Got a Million-Dollar Fine. That Won’t Cure This Woman’s Rare Cancer.
Rhonda Fratzke’s oncologist asked if she had ever worked with vinyl chloride, a potent carcinogen. She had not, but she lived near a Westlake Chemical plant that was just fined a million dollars for polluting the air with the dangerous chemical.
Air Monitors Alone Won’t Save Communities From Toxic Industrial Air Pollution
Calvert City, Kentucky, has long had what people in other toxic hot spots have been begging for: monitors to prove they’re being exposed to toxic industrial air pollution. Regulators have years of evidence, but the poison in the air is only growing.
State Launches Cancer Study After ProPublica Identifies Toxic Air Pollution Hot Spot
After learning from a ProPublica analysis that his Missouri city had a high estimated cancer risk from toxic air, Verona Mayor Joseph Heck demanded that the state investigate. Health officials confirmed his worst fears and want to learn more.
Representatives Introduce $500 Million Air Quality Bill, Citing ProPublica’s Investigations
Lawmakers introduced a House bill to fund air monitoring after ProPublica highlighted pollution in its “Black Snow” and “Sacrifice Zones” investigations. The bill is nearly identical to one introduced in the Senate last summer.
EPA Takes Action to Combat Industrial Air Pollution
The EPA announced a raft of targeted actions and specific reforms in the wake of ProPublica’s investigation into toxic hot spots.
When Home Is a Toxic Hot Spot
More than a thousand people talked to ProPublica about living in hot spots for cancer-causing air pollution. Most never got a warning from the EPA. They are rallying neighbors, packing civic meetings and signing petitions for reform.
Veneno en el aire
La EPA permite a los contaminadores que conviertan barrios en “zonas de sacrificio” donde los residentes respiran carcinógenos. ProPublica revela dónde están esos lugares en un mapa, el primero de este tipo, y con análisis de datos.
They Knew Industrial Pollution Was Ruining the Neighborhood’s Air. If Only Regulators Had Listened.
Barbara Weckesser and her neighbors told regulators that air pollution was making them sick. The law let them ignore her.
¿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.
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.