Environment
The Tension Between Humans and Nature
EPA Drops Legal Case Against the GEO Group, a Major Trump Donor, Over Its Misuse of Harmful Disinfectant in an ICE Facility
A complaint filed under the Biden administration alleged that on more than 1,000 occasions in 2022 and 2023, the GEO Group had its employees use the disinfectant, which causes irreversible eye damage and skin burns, without proper protection.
Newtok, Alaska, Was Supposed to Be a Model for Climate Relocation. Here’s How It Went Wrong.
The project’s challenges highlight how ill-prepared the U.S. is to respond to the way climate change is making some places uninhabitable.
Local Reporting Network
Prescient Warnings About Helene Didn’t Reach People in Harm’s Way. Here Are 5 Lessons for the Next Hurricane.
After four months of reporting, ProPublica found that the warnings about Helene were eerily accurate. Yet, local residents remained largely unaware of the enormity of danger approaching as the storm closed in.
Helene’s Unheard Warnings
As Hurricane Helene barreled toward Yancey County in North Carolina, communities along the Cane River in the Black Mountains were particularly vulnerable. But there were no evacuation orders, and few grasped what was coming.
Featured Reporters
Impact of Our Reporting
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.
Local Reporting Network
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.
Local Reporting Network
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.”
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
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
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.
Sharon Lerner
I cover health and the environment and the agencies that govern them, including the Environmental Protection Agency.
Andy Kroll
I cover justice and the rule of law, including the Justice Department, U.S. attorneys and the courts.
Melissa Sanchez
I report on immigration and labor, and I am based in Chicago.
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.
