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Environment

The Tension Between Humans and Nature

373 stories published since 2009
A soybean field in Russia’s remote Far East being harvested.

The Big Thaw: How Russia Could Dominate a Warming World

by Abrahm Lustgarten, photography by Sergey Ponomarev,

Federal Regulators Are Rewriting Environmental Rules So a Massive Pipeline Can Be Built

by Ken Ward Jr.,

How Famous Surfers and Wealthy Homeowners Are Endangering Hawaii’s Beaches

by Sophie Cocke, Honolulu Star-Advertiser,

A Coal Company Owned by This Billionaire Governor Has Pledged to Stop Breaking Pollution Laws

by Ken Ward Jr.,

A Power Company’s Quiet Land-Buying Spree Could Shield It From Coal Ash Cleanup Costs

by Max Blau for Georgia Health News,

Oceanfront Property Tied to Obama Granted Exemption From Hawaii’s Environmental Laws

by Sophie Cocke, Honolulu Star-Advertiser,

Climate Change Will Make Parts of the U.S. Uninhabitable. Americans Are Still Moving There.

by Lucas Waldron and Abrahm Lustgarten,

Brett Duke/The Times-Picayune and The Advocate

Permit for Controversial $9 Billion Plastics Plant in “Chemical Alley” to Be Put on Hold

by Lylla Younes,

Despite What the Logging Industry Says, Cutting Down Trees Isn’t Stopping Catastrophic Wildfires

by Tony Schick, OPB,

The EPA Refuses to Reduce Pollutants Linked to Coronavirus Deaths

by Lisa Song and Lylla Younes,

New Maps Show How Climate Change is Making California’s “Fire Weather” Worse

by Al Shaw and Elizabeth Weil,

California Will Keep Burning. But Housing Policy Is Making It Worse.

by Elizabeth Weil and Mollie Simon,

It’s His Land. Now a Canadian Company Gets to Take It.

by Lee van der Voo for ProPublica,

Gov. Gavin Newsom Says California Is Cracking Down on Oil Spills. But Our Reporting Shows Many Are Still Flowing.

by Janet Wilson, The Desert Sun,

What the Photos of Wildfires and Smoke Don’t Show You

by Elizabeth Weil and Lisa Larson-Walker,

Oil Companies Are Profiting From Illegal Spills. And California Lets Them.

by Janet Wilson, The Desert Sun, and Lylla Younes, ProPublica,

A Wealthy Governor’s Coal Company Might Get a Big Break From His Own Regulators

by Ken Ward Jr.,

A map of North America.

New Climate Maps Show a Transformed United States

by Al Shaw, Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica, and Jeremy W. Goldsmith, special to ProPublica,

A wildfire on the foothills of the San Gabriel Canyon behind residential houses.

Climate Change Will Force a New American Migration

by Abrahm Lustgarten, photography by Meridith Kohut,

New Research Shows Disproportionate Rate of Coronavirus Deaths in Polluted Areas

by Lylla Younes, ProPublica, and Sara Sneath,

The Climate Crisis Is Happening Right Now. Just Look at California’s Weekend.

by Elizabeth Weil,

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown Calls for Audit After Our Reporting on a State Institute That Lobbied for the Timber Industry

by Tony Schick, OPB, and Rob Davis, The Oregonian/OregonLive,

The Mystery House: How a Suspicious Multimillion Dollar Real Estate Deal Is Connected to California’s Deadliest Fire

by Scott Morris, Bay City News Foundation,

Obama and the Beach House Loopholes

by Sophie Cocke, Honolulu Star-Advertiser,

Burial Site Found on a Property Tied to Obama, Causing Tension With Native Hawaiians

by Sophie Cocke, Honolulu Star-Advertiser,

¿A dónde se irán todos?

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

Where Will Everyone Go?

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

About Our Climate Migration Model

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

How a PG&E Contractor With a Sketchy Past Made Millions After California’s Deadliest Fire

by Scott Morris, Bay City News Foundation,

Big Money Bought the Forests. Small Logging Communities Are Paying the Price.

by Tony Schick, OPB, Rob Davis, The Oregonian, and Lylla Younes, ProPublica,

How We Analyzed Data From Oregon’s Timber Industry

by Lylla Younes, ProPublica, and Tony Schick, OPB,

The Financial Catastrophe That Coronavirus Brought to Small Towns

by Lisa Song,

How Climate Change Is Contributing to Skyrocketing Rates of Infectious Disease

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

How Louisiana Lawmakers Stop Residents’ Efforts to Fight Big Oil and Gas

by Sara Sneath, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate,

Help Us Understand Logging and Timber Practices Across Oregon

by Tony Schick, Oregon Public Broadcasting, Rob Davis, The Oregonian, with Maya Miller, ProPublica,

How Oil Companies Avoided Environmental Accountability After 10.8 Million Gallons Spilled

by Joan Meiners, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate,

In “Cancer Alley,” Toxic Polluters Face Little Oversight From Environmental Regulators

by Gordon Russell, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate,

How an Environmental Regulator Became Known for Protecting Industry

by Gordon Russell, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate,

Chemical Companies Are Building Their Plants Overseas and Shipping Them Back In. They Still Get State Tax Breaks.

by Sara Sneath, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate,

Health Officials in “Cancer Alley” Will Study if Living Near a Controversial Chemical Plant Causes Cancer

by Gordon Russell, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate,

What Could Happen if a $9.4 Billion Chemical Plant Comes to “Cancer Alley”

by Lylla Younes,

Cap and Trade Is Supposed to Solve Climate Change, but Oil and Gas Company Emissions Are Up

by Lisa Song,

New EPA Rules Aim to Reduce Toxic Emissions. But Many “Cancer Alley” Chemical Plants Won’t Have to Change.

by Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate,

Even Louisiana’s Wealthier Neighborhoods Can’t Escape Toxic Air in “Cancer Alley”

by Joan Meiners, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate,

In a Notoriously Polluted Area of the Country, Massive New Chemical Plants Are Still Moving In

by Lylla Younes, Al Shaw and Claire Perlman,

How We Found New Chemical Plants Are Being Built in South Louisiana’s Most Polluted Areas

by Lylla Younes and Al Shaw, ProPublica, with Michael Petroni,

I’ve Investigated Industrial Pollution for 35 Years. We’re Going Backwards.

by Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate,

Welcome to “Cancer Alley,” Where Toxic Air Is About to Get Worse

by Tristan Baurick, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate, Lylla Younes, ProPublica, and Joan Meiners, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate,

Why Louisiana’s Air Quality Is Going From Bad to Worse, in 3 Charts

by Lylla Younes,

A Taste of the Climate Apocalypse to Come

by Abrahm Lustgarten,