Michael Phillis

Stay informed with Michael Phillis’s coverage and analysis.

Page 2 of 2

  • FILE – The Fifth Ward Elementary School and residential neighborhoods sit near the Denka Performance Elastomer Plant, back, in Reserve, La., Sept. 23, 2022. In what could prove a significant move for communities facing air pollution, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed on Thursday, April 6, 2023, that chemical plants nationwide measure certain hazardous compounds that cross beyond their property lines and reduce them when they are too high. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)Environment

    The EPA just proposed a new way for chemical factories to measure pollution and it could reduce cancer risks for people nearby

    By Michael Phillis and The Associated Press
  • FILE – Cooling towers release heat generated by boiling water reactors at Xcel Energy’s Nuclear Generating Plant on Oct. 2, 2019, in Monticello, Minn. Minnesota regulators said Thursday, March 16, 2023, that they’re monitoring the cleanup of a leak of 400,000 gallons of radioactive water from Xcel Energy’s Monticello nuclear power plant in late November 2022. The company said there’s no danger to the public. (Evan Frost/Minnesota Public Radio via AP, File)Environment

    Nuclear power plant 35 miles outside Minneapolis leaked radioactive waste but officials waited months to notify public

    By Michael Phillis, Amancai Biraben, and others
  • EPAHealth

    EPA moves for first time to limit ‘forever chemicals’ from drinking water

    By Michael Phillis, Matthew Daly, and others
  • Louisiana family/rubber plantEnvironment

    A Louisiana rubber company spews cancer-causing chemicals just a half-mile from a majority Black elementary school, EPA says

    By Michael Phillis, Matthew Daly, and others
  • A woman wades through floodwaters in California.Personal Finance

    California just got slammed with a series of severe storms but only about 2% of properties are covered by flood insurance

    By Michael Phillis, Adam Beam, and others
  • Jennifer GranholmEnvironment

    ‘It’s almost like it’s a starting gun going off’: The fusion energy breakthrough means winning the climate change race could be just decades away

    By Matthew Daly, Michael Phillis, and others
  • FILE – Cyclists ride past debris piled up on the seawall road Sept. 14, 2008, after Hurricane Ike hit the Texas coast in Galveston. Fourteen years after Hurricane Ike ripped through thousands of homes and businesses near Galveston, the U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022, to authorize a defense bill. It includes major projects to improve the nation’s waterways and protect communities against floods made more severe by climate change. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)Environment

    House lawmakers just authorized the most expensive project ever recommended by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

    By Juan Lozano, Michael Phillis, and others
  • Small Towns Water ProblemsPolitics

    America’s hidden disaster of dirty tap water is all around us in our small towns and rural areas

    By Michael Phillis, Leah Willingham, and others
  • Mississippi RiverEnvironment

    A massive drought is snarling trade on the Mississippi River. ‘It does take a lot of rainfall to really get the river to rise’

    By Michael Phillis, Jim Salter, and others