Environment

The Tension Between Humans and Nature

378 stories published since 2009

Timber Tax Cuts Cost Oregon Towns Billions. Then Polluted Water Drove Up the Price.

by Tony Schick, Oregon Public Broadcasting, and Rob Davis, The Oregonian/OregonLive,

Dec. 31, 2020, 8 p.m. EST

Hawaii Officials Promise Changes to Seawall Policies That Have Quickened Beach Destruction

by Mindy Pennybacker and Sophie Cocke, Honolulu Star-Advertiser,

Dec. 31, 2020, 3:30 p.m. EST

Officials Let Hawaii’s Waterfront Homeowners Damage Public Beaches Again and Again

by Sophie Cocke, Honolulu Star-Advertiser,

Dec. 31, 2020, 3 p.m. EST

Hawaii’s Beaches Are Disappearing

by Ash Ngu, ProPublica, and Sophie Cocke, Honolulu Star-Advertiser,

Dec. 29, 2020, 5 a.m. EST

John Kerry, Biden’s Climate Czar, Talks About Saving the Planet

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

Dec. 18, 2020, 6 a.m. EST

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,

Dec. 16, 2020, 5 a.m. EST

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

by Ken Ward Jr.,

Dec. 8, 2020, 5 a.m. EST

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

by Sophie Cocke, Honolulu Star-Advertiser,

Dec. 5, 2020, 5 a.m. EST

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

by Ken Ward Jr.,

Dec. 4, 2020, 11 a.m. EST

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

by Max Blau for Georgia Health News,

Nov. 24, 2020, 7 a.m. EST

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

by Sophie Cocke, Honolulu Star-Advertiser,

Nov. 18, 2020, 5 a.m. EST

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

by Lucas Waldron and Abrahm Lustgarten,

Nov. 10, 2020, 12:11 p.m. EST

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,

Nov. 5, 2020, 4:25 p.m. EST

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

by Tony Schick, OPB,

Oct. 31, 2020, 9 a.m. EDT

The EPA Refuses to Reduce Pollutants Linked to Coronavirus Deaths

by Lisa Song and Lylla Younes,

Oct. 21, 2020, 6 a.m. EDT

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

by Al Shaw and Elizabeth Weil,

Oct. 14, 2020, 5 a.m. EDT

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

by Elizabeth Weil and Mollie Simon,

Oct. 2, 2020, 12:15 p.m. EDT

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

by Lee van der Voo for ProPublica,

Oct. 1, 2020, 11 a.m. EDT

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,

Sept. 24, 2020, 8 a.m. EDT

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

by Elizabeth Weil and Lisa Larson-Walker,

Sept. 21, 2020, 5 a.m. EDT

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

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

Sept. 18, 2020, 9 a.m. EDT

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

by Ken Ward Jr.,

Sept. 17, 2020, 12 p.m. EDT

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,

Sept. 15, 2020, 5 a.m. EDT

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,

Sept. 15, 2020, 5 a.m. EDT

New Research Shows Disproportionate Rate of Coronavirus Deaths in Polluted Areas

by Lylla Younes, ProPublica, and Sara Sneath,

Sept. 11, 2020, 6 a.m. EDT

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

by Elizabeth Weil,

Sept. 9, 2020, 10:32 a.m. EDT

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,

Sept. 2, 2020, 5:30 p.m. EDT

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,

Aug. 26, 2020, 9 a.m. EDT

Obama and the Beach House Loopholes

by Sophie Cocke, Honolulu Star-Advertiser,

Aug. 15, 2020, 6 a.m. EDT

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

by Sophie Cocke, Honolulu Star-Advertiser,

Aug. 15, 2020, 6 a.m. EDT

¿A dónde se irán todos?

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

Aug. 7, 2020, 6 a.m. EDT

Where Will Everyone Go?

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

July 23, 2020, 5 a.m. EDT

About Our Climate Migration Model

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

July 23, 2020, 4:59 a.m. EDT

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

by Scott Morris, Bay City News Foundation,

June 30, 2020, 10 a.m. EDT

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

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

June 11, 2020, 9 a.m. EDT

How We Analyzed Data From Oregon’s Timber Industry

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

June 11, 2020, 8:59 a.m. EDT

The Financial Catastrophe That Coronavirus Brought to Small Towns

May 26, 2020, 11:58 a.m. EDT

How Climate Change Is Contributing to Skyrocketing Rates of Infectious Disease

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

May 7, 2020, 5 a.m. EDT

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

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

Feb. 7, 2020, 2 p.m. EST

Help Us Understand Logging and Timber Practices Across Oregon

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

Jan. 15, 2020, 5 a.m. EST

How Oil Companies Avoided Environmental Accountability After 10.8 Million Gallons Spilled

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

Dec. 27, 2019, 6 a.m. EST

How an Environmental Regulator Became Known for Protecting Industry

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

Dec. 19, 2019, 1:30 p.m. EST

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

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

Dec. 19, 2019, 1:30 p.m. EST

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,

Dec. 6, 2019, 12:30 p.m. EST

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

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

Nov. 25, 2019, 3:32 p.m. EST

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

by Lylla Younes,

Nov. 18, 2019, 12 p.m. EST

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

Nov. 15, 2019, 5 a.m. EST

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,

Nov. 14, 2019, 4:30 p.m. EST

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

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

Nov. 1, 2019, 6 a.m. EDT

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

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

Oct. 30, 2019, 12 p.m. EDT