Talia Buford
Talia Buford is an assistant managing editor with ProPublica. She joined ProPublica in 2017 starting as a reporter and thereafter as ProPublica’s talent development director.
Need to Get in Touch?
Talia Buford is an assistant managing editor with ProPublica. She joined ProPublica in 2017 as a reporter, covering disparities in environmental impacts. She also served in the role of talent development director at ProPublica. Previously, she was an environment and labor reporter at The Center for Public Integrity, where her work focused mostly on wage theft and the Environmental Protection Agency’s lackluster enforcement of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. She also covered energy for POLITICO Pro and started her career covering municipal and legal affairs at The Providence (R.I.) Journal. She earned a master’s degree in the study of law from Georgetown University Law Center and a bachelor’s degree in print journalism from Hampton University.
COVID-19 Took Black Lives First. It Didn’t Have To.
In Chicago, 70 of the city’s 100 first recorded victims of COVID-19 were black. Their lives were rich, and their deaths cannot be dismissed as inevitable. Immediate factors could — and should — have been addressed.
Early Data Shows African Americans Have Contracted and Died of Coronavirus at an Alarming Rate
No, the coronavirus is not an “equalizer.” Black people are being infected and dying at higher rates. Here’s what Milwaukee is doing about it — and why governments need to start releasing data on the race of COVID-19 patients.
New York Wants Health Workers to Join the Fight Against COVID-19. Will It Pick Up Their Medical Bills if They Get Sick?
States are recruiting retirees, recent graduates and other health professionals to help overwhelmed hospitals, but if they contract the virus while serving patients, they could be on the hook for any out-of-pocket medical costs.
Some Towns Still Haven’t Halted Utility Shut-offs for Unpaid Water Bills During Coronavirus, Even as Federal Lawmakers Demand It
While some municipalities with only a few cases of the coronavirus have stopped disconnecting water service for residents with overdue bills, a few utility companies at the coronavirus epicenter in Washington have made no such promises.
The Obscure Charges That Utility Companies Add to Your Bills
A New Jersey utility sparked outrage for charging customers to subsidize nuclear plants. Turns out, that was just one of 16 lurking surcharges.
New Jersey’s $300 Million Nuclear Power Bailout Is Facing a Court Challenge. Does It Have a Chance?
The state’s utility advocate said regulators should not have approved the subsidies for the energy company PSEG.
Nuclear Lobbying Power: N.J. Utility Customers Will Pay $300M in Subsidies
Regulators voted Thursday to approve subsidies, even though PSEG plants are “financially viable.”
In a Time of Cheap Fossil Fuels, Nuclear Power Companies Are Seeking — and Getting — Big Subsidies
Illinois and New York have approved hundreds of millions of dollars in clean-energy incentives for nuclear power companies. New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland could be next.
New Jersey Said 10 Years Ago It Would Rank Its Most Contaminated Sites. It Never Did.
The rankings were supposed to ensure that the most dangerous sites remained a priority even as the state gave private companies a bigger role in cleanups. Today, there are nearly 14,000 contamination sites across New Jersey and still no sign of the mandated rankings.
A Hog Waste Agreement Lacked Teeth, and Some North Carolinians Say They’re Left to Suffer
Today, many farmers continue to store the waste in open pits despite the millions of dollars in private investment spent and years of research and political promises. The practice grows more hazardous with each hurricane that pounds the state.