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Environment

The Tension Between Humans and Nature

Trump Order Shifts the Financial Burden of Climate Change Onto Individuals

The change would effectively transfer financial responsibility from oil drillers, auto manufacturers and others and leave Americans to face greater direct costs as warming continues.

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

How Trump’s Federal Funding and Hiring Freezes Are Leaving America Vulnerable to Catastrophic Wildfire

Uncertainty over funding and hiring stemming from the president’s executive orders has limited wildfire training and postponed work to reduce flammable vegetation. It has also led some firefighters to leave the force, their colleagues said.

by Mark Olalde,

How Trump’s EPA Threatens Efforts to Clean Up Areas Affected Most by Dangerous Air Pollution

In just two weeks, Donald Trump has made drastic changes to the Environmental Protection Agency. Here’s how they could impact efforts to reform toxic hot spots across the U.S. and who will be left to safeguard these communities.

by Lisa Song,

How Climate Change Could Upend the American Dream

Americans have long accumulated wealth by owning their homes, but a new study predicts that spiking insurance rates and climate disasters now herald an era of widespread losses.

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

Featured Reporters

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Portrait of Umar Farooq Umar Farooq
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Portrait of Mark Olalde Mark Olalde
Tony Schick
Portrait of Al Shaw Al Shaw
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Impact of Our Reporting
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Power Hungry

Washington Governor Orders Team to Study Data Centers’ Impact on Energy Use, Job Creation and Tax Revenue

Last year, The Seattle Times and ProPublica reported on how the state created a massive tax break for data centers, encouraging the growth of an industry whose energy use conflicts with a goal for utilities to go carbon neutral by 2030.

by Lulu Ramadan and Sydney Brownstone, The Seattle Times,

Local Reporting Network

Broken Promises

Hydroelectric Dams on Oregon’s Willamette River Kill Salmon. Congress Says It’s Time to Consider Shutting Them Down.

The newly signed legislation follows reporting from Oregon Public Broadcasting and ProPublica that underscored the risks and costs associated with a plan to migrate salmon past hydroelectric dams using a giant fish collector and tanker trucks.

by Tony Schick, Oregon Public Broadcasting,

Local Reporting Network

Unreasonable Risk

U.S. Senator Urges EPA to Release “Science-Based” Report on Formaldehyde Health Risks

Citing a ProPublica investigation that found formaldehyde causes far more cancer than any other toxic air pollutant, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said in a letter that “the agency has an obligation to protect the public from the chemical.”

by Sharon Lerner,

Series

Series: Unreasonable Risk: Formaldehyde Threatens the Health of Nearly Everyone

Series: Power Grab: How Green Energy Hurts Washington’s Tribes

Series: Selling a Mirage: The Deception Behind Plastic Recycling

Series: Unplugged: Will Taxpayers Foot the Oil Industry’s Cleanup Bill?

Series: Waiting for Water: Tribes’ Fight for a Promised Resource

Series: Roots of an Outbreak: How the Next Pandemic Could Start

Series: Disaster After Disaster: Growing Storms, Faltering Aid

Series: Broken Promises: Salmon Disappear From the Pacific Northwest

Series: Sacrifice Zones: Mapping Cancer-Causing Industrial Air Pollution

Series: Black Snow: Big Sugar’s Burning Problem

Series: Sunken Costs: Coal Ash in Georgia

Firefighters battle the Creek Fire in the Shaver Lake community of Fresno County, California, on Sept. 7.

Series: California Burning: The Climate Crisis is Setting the State on Fire

Series: The Great Climate Migration: A Warming Planet and a Shifting Population

Series: Paradise Lost: Hawaii’s Disappearing Beaches

Series: Pollution Profiteers: Inside California’s Toxic Hauling Industry

Series: The Cutting: Investigating Industrial Logging in Oregon

Series: Polluter’s Paradise: Environmental Impact in Louisiana

Series: The New Power Brokers: West Virginia’s Natural Gas Industry

Series: Bombs in Our Backyard: Investigating One of America’s Greatest Polluters

Series: Killing the Colorado: The Water Crisis in the West

Series: Losing Ground: Southeast Louisiana is Disappearing, Quickly

Series: After the Flood: The Challenge of Rebuilding as the Climate Changes

Series: Injection Wells: The Hidden Risks of Pumping Waste Underground

Series: Nuclear Safety: After Fukushima

Series: Gulf Oil Spill: Investigating the Impact of the BP Spill

Series: Fracking: Gas Drilling’s Environmental Threat

393 stories published since 2009

Washington Governor Orders Team to Study Data Centers’ Impact on Energy Use, Job Creation and Tax Revenue

by Lulu Ramadan and Sydney Brownstone, The Seattle Times,

North Dakota Sued the Interior Department at Least Five Times Under Gov. Doug Burgum. Now He’s Set to Run the Agency.

by Mary Steurer, North Dakota Monitor, and Mark Olalde, ProPublica,

Donald Trump’s No. 2 Pick for the EPA Represented Companies Accused of Pollution Harm

by Sharon Lerner,

This Storm-Battered Town Voted for Trump. He Has Vowed to Overturn the Law That Could Fix Its Homes.

by Sharon Lerner, photography by Annie Flanagan for ProPublica,

Hydroelectric Dams on Oregon’s Willamette River Kill Salmon. Congress Says It’s Time to Consider Shutting Them Down.

by Tony Schick, Oregon Public Broadcasting,

After the Palisades Fire, What Can We Really Rebuild?

by Tim Golden,

Elon Musk’s Boring Company Is Tunneling Beneath Las Vegas With Little Oversight

by Daniel Rothberg for ProPublica and Dayvid Figler, City Cast Las Vegas,

EPA Report Finds That Formaldehyde Presents an “Unreasonable Risk” to Public Health

by Sharon Lerner,

The American Oil Industry’s Playbook, Illustrated: How Drillers Offload Costly Cleanup Onto the Public

by Mark Olalde, illustrations by Peter Arkle, special to ProPublica,

U.S. Senator Urges EPA to Release “Science-Based” Report on Formaldehyde Health Risks

by Sharon Lerner,

How to Reduce Formaldehyde Exposure in Your Home

by Topher Sanders,

How Much Formaldehyde Is in Your Car, Your Kitchen or Your Furniture? Here’s What Our Testing Found.

by Topher Sanders, with additional reporting by Sharon Lerner and Al Shaw,

Check the Formaldehyde Cancer Risk in Your Neighborhood

by Al Shaw and Sharon Lerner,

Formaldehyde Causes More Cancer Than Any Other Toxic Air Pollutant. Little Is Being Done to Curb the Risk.

by Sharon Lerner and Al Shaw,

Despite Biden’s Promise to Protect Old Forests, His Administration Keeps Approving Plans to Cut Them Down

by April Ehrlich, Oregon Public Broadcasting, McKenzie Funk, ProPublica, and Tony Schick, Oregon Public Broadcasting,

The Ghosts of John Tanton

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

FEMA Told Victims of New Mexico’s Largest Wildfire It Can’t Pay for Emotional Harm. A Judge Will Likely Rule It Must.

by Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico,

Fossil Fuel Interests Are Working to Kill Solar in One Ohio County. The Hometown Newspaper Is Helping.

by Miranda Green, Floodlight, Jennifer Smith Richards, ProPublica, and Priyanjana Bengani, Tow Center for Digital Journalism, and photography by Sarahbeth Maney, ProPublica,

Who Will Care for Americans Left Behind by Climate Migration?

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

EPA Says It Plans to Withdraw Approval for Chevron’s Plastic-Based Fuels That Are Likely to Cause Cancer

by Sharon Lerner,

ExxonMobil Accused of “Deceptively” Promoting Chemical Recycling as a Solution for the Plastics Crisis

by Lisa Song,

At Indigenous Sacred Sites, Seeing Things I’m Not Supposed to See

by B. “Toastie” Oaster, High Country News,

The Department of Energy Promised This Tribal Nation a $32 Million Solar Grant. It’s Nearly Impossible to Access.

by Tony Schick, Oregon Public Broadcasting,

EPA Scientists Said They Were Pressured to Downplay Harms From Chemicals. A Watchdog Found They Were Retaliated Against.

by Sharon Lerner,

Oregon’s Largest Natural Gas Company Said It Was Going Green. It Sells as Much Fossil Fuel as Before.

by McKenzie Funk,

These Household Brands Want to Redefine What Counts as “Recyclable”

by Lisa Song,

Nike Shareholders Want to Force Actions on Environmental and Worker Protections. They Face Long Odds.

by Rob Davis, ProPublica, and Matthew Kish, The Oregonian/OregonLive,

Biden EPA Rejects Plastics Industry’s Fuzzy Math That Misleads Customers About Recycled Content

by Lisa Song,

When Is “Recyclable” Not Really Recyclable? When the Plastics Industry Gets to Define What the Word Means.

by Lisa Song,

As Millions of Acres Burn, Firefighters Say the U.S. Forest Service Has Left Them With Critical Shortages

by Abe Streep for ProPublica,

After Nike Leaders Promised Climate Action, Their Corporate Jets Kept Flying — and Polluting

by Rob Davis, Agnel Philip and Alex Mierjeski, ProPublica, and Matthew Kish, The Oregonian/OregonLive,

Washington State Solar Project Paused Amid Concern About Native Cultural Sites

by B. “Toastie” Oaster, High Country News,

How a Green Tech Startup With No Climate Experience Secured Millions of Dollars in Government Contracts

by Anjeanette Damon,

Oklahoma’s Oil Industry Touts a Voluntary Fund to Clean Up Oil Wells. Major Drillers Want Their Contributions Refunded.

by Mark Olalde, ProPublica, and Nick Bowlin, Capital & Main,

Data Centers Demand a Massive Amount of Energy. Here’s How Some States Are Tackling the Industry’s Impact.

by Lulu Ramadan and Sydney Brownstone, The Seattle Times,

Washington Is Giving Tax Breaks to Data Centers That Threaten the State’s Green Energy Push

by Lulu Ramadan and Sydney Brownstone, The Seattle Times, photography by Karen Ducey, The Seattle Times,

California Isn’t Enforcing Its Strongest-in-the-Nation Oil Well Cleanup Law on Its Largest Oil Company

by Mark Olalde,

Nike Pledged to Shrink Its Carbon Footprint. It Just Slashed the Staff Charged With Making That Happen.

by Rob Davis, ProPublica, and Matthew Kish, The Oregonian/OregonLive,

The Federal Government Just Acknowledged the Harm Its Dams Have Caused Tribes. Here’s What It Left Out.

by Tony Schick, Oregon Public Broadcasting,

How America’s “Most Powerful Lobby” Is Stifling Efforts to Reform Oil Well Cleanup in State After State

by Mark Olalde,

The Delusion of “Advanced” Plastic Recycling

by Lisa Song, illustrations by Max Guther, special to ProPublica,

A Bottled Water Company in Michigan Is Still Extracting Millions of Gallons of Water for Free

by Anna Clark, photography by Sarahbeth Maney,

Nine Takeaways From Our Investigation Into 3M’s Forever Chemicals

by ProPublica,

Toxic Gaslighting: How 3M Executives Convinced a Scientist the Forever Chemicals She Found in Human Blood Were Safe

by Sharon Lerner, photography by Haruka Sakaguchi, special to ProPublica,

Plastic, Plastic Everywhere — Even at the UN’s “Plastic Free” Conference

by Lisa Song,

Oil Companies Contaminated a Family Farm. The Courts and Regulators Let the Drillers Walk Away.

by Mark Olalde, ProPublica, and Nick Bowlin, Capital & Main,

Ten Years After the Flint Water Crisis, Distrust and Anger Linger

by Anna Clark and Sarahbeth Maney, Photography by Sarahbeth Maney,

EPA Proposes Ban on Pesticide Widely Used on Fruits and Vegetables

by Sharon Lerner,

10 Times as Much of This Toxic Pesticide Could End Up on Your Tomatoes and Celery Under a New EPA Proposal

by Sharon Lerner,

Oil Companies Must Set Aside More Money to Plug Wells, a New Rule Says. But It Won’t Be Enough.

by Mark Olalde, ProPublica, and Nick Bowlin, Capital & Main,