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Environment

The Tension Between Humans and Nature

Texas Officials Say They Didn’t See the Flood Coming. Oral Histories Show Residents Have Long Warned of Risks.

After a tragedy, records from local archives can help us understand how a community understands itself. Here’s some of what we learned following the devastating July 4 flooding in Texas.

by Logan Jaffe,

Some Texas Officials Didn’t Respond to Flood Alerts, Echoing the Tragedies of Hurricane Helene

Weather warnings predicted devastation from both the Texas floods and Hurricane Helene. But in both disasters, people were left in harm’s way.

by Jennifer Berry Hawes,

The Texas Flash Flood Is a Preview of the Chaos to Come

Climate change is making disasters more common, more deadly and far more costly, even as the federal government is running away from the policies that might begin to protect the nation.

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

Utah Sen. Mike Lee Says Selling Off Public Lands Will Solve the West’s Housing Crisis. Past Sales Show Otherwise.

Last month, Lee introduced a now-removed amendment to Trump’s policy megabill that mandated the sale of up to 3 million acres. It did little to address the challenges of building affordable housing on public land.

by Abe Streep,

Featured Reporters

Portrait of Sharon Lerner Sharon Lerner
Portrait of Abrahm Lustgarten Abrahm Lustgarten
Portrait of Maya Miller Maya Miller
Portrait of Mark Olalde Mark Olalde
Portrait of Al Shaw Al Shaw
Portrait of Lisa Song Lisa Song

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: Power Struggle: What Stalled the Northwest’s Push for Green Energy?

Series: Nike’s Gold Standard: Testing Nike’s Corporate Responsibility Claims

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

416 stories published since 2009

Trump’s First EPA Promised to Crack Down on Forever Chemicals. His Second EPA Is Pulling Back.

by Anna Clark,

Trump Administration Abandons Deal With Northwest Tribes to Restore Salmon

by Tony Schick, Oregon Public Broadcasting,

EPA Drops Legal Case Against the GEO Group, a Major Trump Donor, Over Its Misuse of Harmful Disinfectant in an ICE Facility

by Sharon Lerner and Lisa Song,

Newtok, Alaska, Was Supposed to Be a Model for Climate Relocation. Here’s How It Went Wrong.

by Emily Schwing, KYUK,

Prescient Warnings About Helene Didn’t Reach People in Harm’s Way. Here Are 5 Lessons for the Next Hurricane.

by Jennifer Berry Hawes and Mollie Simon, with additional reporting by Cassandra Garibay,

Helene’s Unheard Warnings

by Jennifer Berry Hawes, with additional reporting by Cassandra Garibay,

Higher Prices, Rolling Blackouts: The Northwest Is Bracing for the Effects of a Lagging Green Energy Push

by Tony Schick and Monica Samayoa, Oregon Public Broadcasting,

Liberal Oregon and Washington Vowed to Pioneer Green Energy. Almost Every Other State Is Beating Them.

by Tony Schick and Monica Samayoa, Oregon Public Broadcasting,

Millions of People Depend on the Great Lakes’ Water Supply. Trump Decimated the Lab Protecting It.

by Anna Clark,

White House Proposal Could Gut Climate Modeling the World Depends On

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

Earthjustice President Describes a “Fundamentally Different” Era of Hostility Toward Environmentalists

by Sharon Lerner,

Trump’s EPA Plans to Stop Collecting Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data From Most Polluters

by Sharon Lerner,

Trump Said Cuts Wouldn’t Affect Public Safety. Then He Fired Hundreds of Workers Who Help Fight Wildfires.

by Mark Olalde,

TCE Is Linked to Heart Defects in Babies, Cancer and Parkinson’s. Republicans in Congress Want to Reverse a Ban on It.

by Sharon Lerner and Lisa Song,

NIH Ends Future Funding to Study the Health Effects of Climate Change

by Annie Waldman and Sharon Lerner,

The Doublespeak of Energy Secretary Chris Wright

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

Tổng thống Trump đã dừng hoạt động xử lý chất độc da cam. Việc làm này khiến cho hàng trăm nghìn người gặp nguy cơ bị nhiễm độc.

by Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Brett Murphy, ProPublica, and Le Van for ProPublica,

Trump Halted an Agent Orange Cleanup. That Puts Hundreds of Thousands at Risk for Poisoning.

by Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Brett Murphy, ProPublica, and Le Van for ProPublica,

Industry-Backed Legislation Would Bar the Use of Science Behind Hundreds of Environmental Protections

by Sharon Lerner,

Trump Order Shifts the Financial Burden of Climate Change Onto Individuals

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

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

by Mark Olalde,

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,

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

by Lisa Song,

How Climate Change Could Upend the American Dream

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

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,

What We’re Watching

During Donald Trump’s second presidency, ProPublica will focus on the areas most in need of scrutiny. Here are some of the issues our reporters will be watching — and how to get in touch with them securely.

Learn more about our reporting team. We will continue to share our areas of interest as the news develops.

Photo of Sharon Lerner
Sharon Lerner

I cover health and the environment and the agencies that govern them, including the Environmental Protection Agency.

Photo of Andy Kroll
Andy Kroll

I cover justice and the rule of law, including the Justice Department, U.S. attorneys and the courts.

Photo of Melissa Sanchez
Melissa Sanchez

I report on immigration and labor, and I am based in Chicago.

Photo of Jesse Coburn
Jesse Coburn

I cover housing and transportation, including the companies working in those fields and the regulators overseeing them.

If you don’t have a specific tip or story in mind, we could still use your help. Sign up to be a member of our federal worker source network to stay in touch.

Most Read

    RFK Jr. Wants to Change a Program That Stopped Vaccine Makers From Leaving the U.S. Market. They Could Flee Again.

    The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program stabilizes the nation’s childhood immunization system while paying those harmed by rare side effects. If the program topples, it could threaten access to vaccines.

    by Patricia Callahan,

    Unattended

    He Was Accused of Killing His Wife. Idaho’s Coroner System Let Clues Vanish After a Previous Wife’s Death.

    Clayton Strong had a history of domestic unrest in two marriages. The women’s families say a more thorough investigation of Betty Strong’s death in Idaho might have saved the life of his next wife, Shirley Weatherley, in Texas.

    by Audrey Dutton,

    Zero Trust

    A Little-Known Microsoft Program Could Expose the Defense Department to Chinese Hackers

    The Pentagon bans foreign citizens from accessing highly sensitive data, but Microsoft bypasses this by using engineers in China and elsewhere to remotely instruct American “escorts” who may lack expertise to identify malicious code.

    by Renee Dudley, with research by Doris Burke,

    Texas Officials Say They Didn’t See the Flood Coming. Oral Histories Show Residents Have Long Warned of Risks.

    After a tragedy, records from local archives can help us understand how a community understands itself. Here’s some of what we learned following the devastating July 4 flooding in Texas.

    by Logan Jaffe,

    Rx Roulette

    FDA Inspectors Again Find Dangerous Breakdowns at an Indian Factory Supplying Medications to U.S. Consumers

    The latest inspection comes 2 1/2 years after the agency allowed Sun Pharma to keep shipping some drugs to Americans even after banning the factory from the U.S. market because of quality problems.

    by Megan Rose and Debbie Cenziper,