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Environment

The Tension Between Humans and Nature

Impact of Our Reporting
Caret

Sacrifice Zones

New EPA Rule to Slash Cancer-Causing Emissions From Sterilization Facilities

The new rule comes after a 2021 investigation by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune revealed the EPA’s yearslong failure to inform communities of the risks they faced from cancer-causing ethylene oxide emissions.

The Cutting

The Oregon Timber Industry Won Huge Tax Cuts in the 1990s. Now It May Get Another Break Thanks to a Top Lawmaker.

As the cost of fighting wildfires increases, state Sen. Elizabeth Steiner has proposed a bill — developed in consultation with the logging industry — that would shift millions in expenses away from the biggest landowners and onto taxpayers.

Broken Promises

In a Major Shift, Northwest Tribes — not U.S. Officials — Will Control Salmon Recovery Funds

The Biden administration punted on key demands from Indigenous leaders to tear down hydroelectric dams hindering salmon. But tribes won control over $1 billion for other salmon efforts.

Local Reporting Network

Series

332 stories published since 2009

New EPA Rule to Slash Cancer-Causing Emissions From Sterilization Facilities

The Oregon Timber Industry Won Huge Tax Cuts in the 1990s. Now It May Get Another Break Thanks to a Top Lawmaker.

In a Major Shift, Northwest Tribes — not U.S. Officials — Will Control Salmon Recovery Funds

West Virginians Could Get Stuck Cleaning Up the Coal Industry’s Messes

The Future of the Colorado River Hinges on One Young Negotiator

9 Times the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Miscalculated Badly at the Expense of Taxpayers, Wildlife

The 20 Farming Families Who Use More Water From the Colorado River Than Some Western States

The Historic Claims That Put a Few California Farming Families First in Line for Colorado River Water

The EPA Has Found More Than a Dozen Contaminants in Drinking Water but Hasn’t Set Safety Limits on Them

This Billion-Dollar Plan to Save Salmon Depends on a Giant Fish Vacuum

California Oil Companies Face Tougher Enforcement Under New Law

Western States Opposed Tribes’ Access to the Colorado River 70 Years Ago. History Is Repeating Itself.

The Cleanup of Seattle’s Only River Could Cost Boeing and Taxpayers $1 Billion. Talks Over Who Will Pay Most Are Secret.

Biden Administration Commits $200 Million to Help Reintroduce Salmon in Columbia River

A Black Community in West Virginia Sues the EPA to Spur Action on Toxic Air Pollution

Do You Have Experience in or With the Plastics Industry? Tell Us About It.

United Nations Seems to Boost Plastics Industry Interests, Critics Say

The (Random) Forests for the Trees: How Our Spillover Model Works

EPA Approved a Fuel Ingredient Even Though It Could Cause Cancer in Virtually Every Person Exposed Over a Lifetime

In Arizona Water Ruling, the Hopi Tribe Sees Limits on Its Future

The U.S. Banned Farmers From Using a Brain-Harming Pesticide on Food. Why Has It Slowed a Global Ban?

The Colorado River Flooded Chemehuevi Land. Decades Later, the Tribe Still Struggles to Take Its Share of Water.

Supreme Court Keeps Navajo Nation Waiting for Water

Out of Balance

How Arizona Stands Between Tribes and Their Water

Las Vegas Needs to Save Water. It Won’t Find It in Lawns.

Climate Crisis Is on Track to Push One-Third of Humanity Out of Its Most Livable Environment

West Virginia Governor’s Coal Empire Sued by the Federal Government — Again

The Scientist and the Bats

It Will Cost Up to $21.5 Billion to Clean Up California’s Oil Sites. The Industry Won’t Make Enough Money to Pay for It.

Colorado Law Will Require Homes to Be More Wildfire Resistant

Controlled Burns Help Prevent Wildfires, Experts Say. But Regulations Have Made It Nearly Impossible to Do These Burns.

The FCC Is Supposed to Protect the Environment. It Doesn’t.

How We Measured the Environmental Cost of Bankrupt Mines

In the Game of Musical Mines, Environmental Damage Takes a Back Seat

Blown Away: Fishermen Endangered by Offshore Wind’s Political Power

Life-Giving but Lethal: The Culprit Behind Dead Zones and the Threat to Our Water Supply

EPA Proposes Major Air Pollution Reforms to Lower Residents’ Cancer Risk Near Industrial Facilities

Thousands of Katrina Survivors Were Freed From Debt to the State. Those Who Already Paid Are Out of Luck.

The EPA Faces Questions About Its Approval of a Plastic-Based Fuel With an Astronomical Cancer Risk

Major Chemical Company Changes Tune on Asbestos, No Longer Opposes EPA Ban

Lawmakers Have Renewed the Effort to Ban Asbestos

The Federal Government Is Finally Increasing Funding for Salmon Hatcheries. Tribes Say It’s Not Enough.

EPA Asks for More Public Input on Asbestos After ProPublica and Others Reveal New Information

Mississippi Has Invested Millions of Dollars to Save Its Oysters. They’re Disappearing Anyway.

How Forest Loss Can Unleash the Next Pandemic

The Company Testing Air in East Palestine Homes Was Hired by Norfolk Southern. Experts Say That Testing Isn’t Enough.

Seeding Hope

This “Climate-Friendly” Fuel Comes With an Astronomical Cancer Risk

Louisiana to Drop Lawsuits Against Katrina Survivors Over Recovery Grants