Floodlight

22/02/2023

A GOP insider’s activist group is spreading misinformation to halt solar projects, an investigation by and Floodlight reveals, and that influence is continuing to grow.

Read more at the link in our bio.

(Photo by Ryan Kellmann for NPR.)

18/02/2023

A group founded by a GOP operative is spreading misinformation about solar power to halt projects in rural areas, an investigation by and Floodlight reveals – and that influence is continuing to grow.

Read more at the link in our bio.

(Photo by Ryan Kellmann for NPR; graphic by Ashley Ahn for NPR.)

13/02/2023

Two major North American railways have proposed a $27bn merger – creating the first direct route from Canada’s bitumen oil sands mines in Alberta to heavy crude refineries in Texas while likely posing a major inconvenience for Houston residents.

Read more at the link in our bio.

19/12/2022

Alabama Power and Florida Power & Light hired the consulting firm Matrix to help shape their fortunes. Matrix funded six sites that covered politics, filling a void left by the decline of local news.

06/11/2021

Floodlight is expanding!

I am delighted to announce our two new hires, thanks to the incredible outpouring of support Floodlight has received since launching in March.

Floodlight is welcoming investigative reporters Mario Ariza and Sara Sneath.

Mario will report on corporate influence around the country, while Sara's work will focus on the oil and gas industry in Louisiana, as part of a collaboration with The Lens and the Louisiana Illuminator.

A bit more about them and their incredible work:

Mario Alejandro Ariza is an investigative reporter and a Dominican immigrant. You can find his byline in places like the South Florida Sun Sentinel, The New Republic, and The Atlantic. He wrote a book called Disposable City: Miami’s Future on the Shores of Climate Catastrophe, which was published by Bold Type Books. His essays have been featured in The Believer and selected for Best American Essays. He lives in South Florida with two cats, a dog, and a sturdy pair of waterproof boots.

Sara Sneath is based in New Orleans, where she investigates the impact and influence of the oil and gas industry. Sara has reported on environmental issues in the Gulf South for nearly a decade. She was a member of the reporting team that won the Society of Environmental Journalists’ top award for investigative reporting in 2020. She prepared herself for the high-stakes world of journalism by serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. During her off time, Sara enjoys riding bikes and exploring with her best four-legged friend, Goose.

Want to help us keep growing and expanding around the country? Now—through December 31—NewsMatch will double one-time or recurring donations to Floodlight. Help us raise up to $20,000 for investigative climate reporting.
DONATE NOW: https://www.floodlightnews.org/

Thank you for your continued support!

Emily Holden
Editor-in-Chief

09/05/2021

Floodlight's latest story from Sara Sneath with the Louisiana Illuminator is a window into how oil and gas states—even those with Democratic leadership—are pushing back against the Biden administration's climate efforts.

Sneath's story builds on her coverage of the Louisiana legislature, where a lawmaker who owns an oil company has proposed a bill to make the state a 'fossil fuel sanctuary' where federal environmental rules don't apply. The legislation will not move forward in its current form because of legality concerns. But it didn't go without support.

Last week, when asked by other lawmakers about the constitutionality of the bill, representative Danny McCormick, a Republican, said he wasn’t aware anyone was opposed to the measure. “I don’t know who would have a problem with it, honestly,” he said.

McCormick represents Oil City, which is just north of the predominantly black city of Shreveport, where residents already breathe some of the most toxic air in the country.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/09/louisiana-bill-fossil-fuel-sanctuary

23/04/2021

In Floodlight's latest, we go behind the scenes on the oil and gas industry's influence in with in Santa Fe. Read how the state trade group boasted about securing 70 redline edits to regulations, and more. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/23/new-mexico-big-oil-gas-industry

New Mexico seeks to become an economy less reliant on oil and gas, but the extractive industries continue to exert their might on the state and its people

16/03/2021

Floodlight's latest with Alaska Public Media's Liz Ruskin from Fairbanks. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/16/wood-smoke-alaska-state-regulators-air-quality

The government spent millions subsidizing new wood heaters supposed to burn more cleanly. But an investigation has discovered critical flaws

09/03/2021

ICYMI, in our first Floodlight collaboration, we reveal with public records how gas companies are fighting city climate plans. With the Texas Observer and San Antonio Report. In the Guardian US. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/01/a-texas-city-had-a-bold-new-climate-plan-until-a-gas-company-got-involved

Read more about our model, and how to support Floodlight reporting at www.floodlightnews.org

The fossil fuel industry is using the same playbook to fight city climate plans around the country

09/03/2021

A Wyoming study spells economic ruin for western states under Biden's policies. It's been cited by US lawmakers and dozens of news stories. But there's one problem--the oil and gas industry was deeply involved in its development. Our latest, with Wyoming Public Media. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/09/republican-study-wyoming-biden-climate-plans

Go behind the scenes with the reporters here: https://www.floodlightnews.org/post/a-time-honored-practice-how-the-oil-and-gas-industry-fights-climate-policy-by-shaping-research

Wyoming representative Liz Cheney says the study proves Biden’s policies would destroy state economies. But it has the oil and gas industry’s fingerprints all over it