Environment
The Tension Between Humans and Nature
At Indigenous Sacred Sites, Seeing Things I’m Not Supposed to See
Western journalism tends to value transparency as a public good. But as an Indigenous reporter, I face a unique set of challenges: Include too-specific cultural details, and I risk endangering my community.
Local Reporting Network
The Department of Energy Promised This Tribal Nation a $32 Million Solar Grant. It’s Nearly Impossible to Access.
Washington’s Yakama Nation received both the grant and a $100 million federal loan. Held up by a series of bureaucratic hurdles, the funding could expire before the government lets the tribal nation touch a dime.
Local Reporting Network
EPA Scientists Said They Were Pressured to Downplay Harms From Chemicals. A Watchdog Found They Were Retaliated Against.
Three reports issued by the agency’s inspector general detailed personal attacks suffered by the scientists — including being called “stupid,” “piranhas” and “pot-stirrers” — and called on the EPA to take “appropriate corrective action” in response.
Oregon’s Largest Natural Gas Company Said It Was Going Green. It Sells as Much Fossil Fuel as Before.
NW Natural told Oregonians it had a new source of clean energy: renewable natural gas. Industry documents obtained by ProPublica reveal how the company has, for years, perpetuated its core fossil fuel business while painting a picture of going green.
Featured Reporters
Impact of Our Reporting
ExxonMobil Accused of “Deceptively” Promoting Chemical Recycling as a Solution for the Plastics Crisis
The California attorney general’s lawsuit, which cites ProPublica reporting, alleges that products made with Exxon’s process contain only a small fraction of the recycled plastic that they claim to have.
Biden EPA Rejects Plastics Industry’s Fuzzy Math That Misleads Customers About Recycled Content
The plastics industry uses a controversial accounting method to inflate the recycled content it advertises in products. A new EPA policy won’t allow it for any products it endorses as a “Safer Choice.”
The Federal Government Just Acknowledged the Harm Its Dams Have Caused Tribes. Here’s What It Left Out.
The Biden administration said officials historically gave “little, if any, consideration” to impacts on tribal fishing.
Local Reporting Network
Series
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
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
