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.
Hurricane Florence’s Surge Is Expected to Hit Homes That Already Cost the Government Millions
The storm is pummeling coastal towns that are battling rising sea levels and have been repeatedly bailed out by federal flood insurance.
There Was a Plan to Save This City From Flooding. But When the Rains Came, So Did Hesitance.
The Army Corps of Engineers’ delay in activating a floodway — land designated to take on water — cost millions of dollars in damage to Cairo, Illinois, and surrounding communities in 2011.
How the Army Corps’ Hesitation Nearly Destroyed a City
When the worst flood in nearly a century hit Cairo, Illinois, in 2011, the Army Corps waited before following an emergency plan designed to save a city of 2,800 people. See how that week unfolded and the delays and indecision that cost millions in avoidable damage.
Flood Thy Neighbor: Who Stays Dry and Who Decides?
One Missouri town’s levee saga captures what's wrong with America's approach to controlling rivers.
To See How Levees Increase Flooding, We Built Our Own
We ran water through a room-sized river model to show how levees can make flooding worse. Try it yourself.
Suppressed Study: The EPA Underestimated Dangers of Widespread Chemicals
The CDC has quietly published a controversial review of perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, that indicates more people are at risk of drinking contaminated water than previously thought.
New Model Shows Towns on the Wrong Side of an Illinois Levee District Are Treading Water
By building up their own flood protections, some communities have ensured they would be less affected by future floods, while their neighbors would fare worse.
Inside a Secretive Lobbying Effort to Deregulate Federal Levees
The effort seeks to undermine federal rules meant to prevent “levee wars” — where communities race to boost their own flood protection at the expense of their neighbors.
How Overbuilt Levees Along the Upper Mississippi River Push Floods Onto Others
A new analysis of government data shows how levee districts that have raised their levees without federal permits would be better protected against future flooding, while those that follow the rules would see extra flooding.
How Harvey Hurt Houston, in 10 Maps
The city got two “100-year” storms in the two years before Harvey made landfall. All three storms flooded thousands of houses, many outside of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s flood plains.