As billions in federal funds start flowing to state orphan well programs, a DeSmog investigation raises questions about whether oil-friendly states will put industry interests ahead of the environment.

Residences near where Formosa plans to build a sprawling petrochemical complex were severely impacted by winds from Ida, fueled by the Gulf’s unusually warm waters.

Gulf Coast communities — already contending with Covid-19, racism and lingering damage from last year's hurricanes — now face added pollution risks from the fossil fuel industry as Hurricane Ida nears amid build-out of gas export and plastic-manufacturing plants.