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.
Una verdad (aún más) inconveniente
Las ansias por tener estas compensaciones nos ciegan a los alteros de evidencia crecientes que indican que estas no han entregado los beneficios climáticos prometidos, y que no lo harán.
These 4 Arguments Can’t Overcome the Facts About Carbon Offsets for Forest Preservation
Those trying to make them work reacted passionately about ProPublica’s investigation, which found they have failed to deliver the climate benefit they promise. Their arguments come up short.
Uma Verdade (Ainda Mais) Inconveniente: Por que créditos de carbono para preservar florestas podem ser pior do que nada
A corrida pela compensação de emissões está nos fazendo fechar os olhos para evidências cada vez maiores de que não tivemos — nem teremos — os benefícios prometidos.
An (Even More) Inconvenient Truth: Why Carbon Credits For Forest Preservation May Be Worse Than Nothing
How the hunger for these offsets is blinding us to the mounting pile of evidence that they haven't — and won't — deliver the environmental benefit they promise
“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.
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.
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.