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

Countries have called California’s cap-and-trade program the answer to climate change. But it is just as vulnerable to lobbying as any other legislation. The result: The state’s biggest oil and gas companies have actually polluted more since it started.

by Lisa Song

A Trump Tax Break To Help The Poor Went To a Rich GOP Donor’s Superyacht Marina

Wealthy donors Wayne Huizenga Jr. and Jeff Vinik lobbied then-Gov. Rick Scott for the lucrative tax break — and won it. Poorer communities lost out.

by Justin Elliott, Jeff Ernsthausen and Kyle Edwards

Polluter’s Paradise

New EPA Rules Aim to Reduce Toxic Emissions. But Many “Cancer Alley” Chemical Plants Won’t Have to Change.

The proposed rules reducing emissions across the country would not apply to many of Louisiana’s chemical plants. These facilities release tons of dangerous, cancer-causing chemicals like ethylene oxide, and more plants are on the way.

by Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune and The Advocate

What Readers Told Us About Our Story, “The Legend of A-N-N-A”

by Logan Jaffe

We Investigated the Crisis in California’s Jails. Now, the Governor Calls for More Oversight.

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants the state to have more power to scrutinize local jails. This comes after a McClatchy and ProPublica investigation found the agency meant to oversee the jails is toothless and that some jail conditions are inhumane.

by Jason Pohl, The Sacramento Bee, and Ryan Gabrielson, ProPublica

Police Don’t Do a Good Job Tracking Hate Crimes. A New Report Calls on Congress to Take Action.

A day after the FBI released its latest hate crime numbers, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights detailed the many problems with those statistics and what should be done to fix them.

by Rachel Glickhouse

Follow the Money in the Ukraine Scandal

On this week’s “Trump, Inc.” podcast, we’re looking at what happened in Ukraine from a different vantage point: not the politics but the finances.

by Katie Zavadski

Giuliani Was Close to a Podcast Deal With the News Outlet That Spread His Ukraine Conspiracies

The president’s lawyer was negotiating a possible deal to co-produce a podcast with the publication — and The Hill’s John Solomon helped with the talks even as his articles were used in a disinformation campaign.

by Mike Spies, Jake Pearson and J. David McSwane

The Way America Votes Is Broken. In One Rural County, a Nonprofit Showed a Way Forward.

In Mississippi last week, a seamless performance by a new set of voting machines took place amid widespread anxiety about election integrity.

by Jessica Huseman

“They Want to Be Treated Like Men and Women, Not as a Subhuman”

A corrections overhaul sent thousands of inmates to local jails, where some advocates say conditions can be “subhuman.” A panel at Stanford Law School examined potential solutions.

by ProPublica

“I Will Never Let Boeing Forget Her”

With the 737 MAX, Boeing put profits first and hundreds died. One grieving family is determined to hold the company accountable.

by Alec MacGillis

NPR Illinois Journalists Can’t Report Freely on University of Illinois Sexual Misconduct. These Organizations Want that to Change.

The ACLU of Illinois, press freedom groups and victims’ rights advocates urged the university to alter a policy that requires reporters to tell campus officials about sources’ sexual harassment complaints.

by Mary Hansen and Rachel Otwell, NPR Illinois

Black Farmers Say a Top Chicken Company Turned Them Away

New allegations surfaced in a lawsuit after ProPublica’s investigation of Koch Foods in Mississippi. The company denies discriminating against black farmers.

by Isaac Arnsdorf

Billionaires Keep Benefiting From a Tax Break to Help the Poor. Now, Congress Wants to Investigate.

In response to reporting by ProPublica and others that show the opportunity zone tax break helping the politically connected, members of Congress are calling for changes in the law.

by Jeff Ernsthausen and Justin Elliott

They Are Racist; Some of Them Have Guns. Inside the White Supremacist Group Hiding in Plain Sight.

Patriot Front is perhaps the most active white supremacist group in the nation. ProPublica explores its origins, secret communications, history of arrests and outsize aims for an all-white America.

by Carol Schaeffer and Fritz Zimmermann, special to ProPublica

The Legend of A-N-N-A: Revisiting an American Town Where Black People Weren’t Welcome After Dark

Most people I met in Anna, Illinois, wish the racist lore behind the city’s name would go away. So, why hasn’t it?

by Logan Jaffe

How Mike Pence’s Office Meddled in Foreign Aid to Reroute Money to Favored Christian Groups

Officials at USAID warned that favoring Christian groups in Iraq could be unconstitutional and inflame religious tensions. When one colleague lost her job, they said she had been “Penced.”

by Yeganeh Torbati

A Jail Increased Extreme Isolation to Stop Suicides. More People Killed Themselves.

The Kern County, CA Sheriff’s Office places hundreds of people into suicide watch each year. They’re held for days or weeks in rooms without mattresses and sometimes toilets.

by Jason Pohl, The Sacramento Bee, and Ryan Gabrielson, ProPublica

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