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.
“A Never-Ending Commitment”: The High Cost of Preserving Vulnerable Beaches
In the wake of hurricanes like Florence, the U.S. government pays to dump truckloads of sand onto eroding beaches, in a cycle that is said to harm ecosystems and disproportionately benefit the rich.
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.