The Xylom

06/30/2025

UPDATE: Thanks to nearly 200 individuals, including eight of you on Instagram, we met our $7,500 fundraising goal on the first day we made a public plea and raised over $12,000 in a week!

Your generosity will keep our lights on through the summer, enabling us to do the accountability- and solutions-oriented science journalism that changes lives, with the depth and cultural competency you deserve.

Now comes the hard part: making sure we never have to do an emergency fundraiser again.

We're relaunching our fundraiser on FundRazr to raise $7,500 in monthly recurring donations. If you've previously given to our legacy Open Collective platform, you do not need to cancel your existing recurring donations; our payment processing software, Stripe, is set up to ensure your tax-deductible donations continue to flow into our account securely.

Let's close out the quarter strong and keep the only Asian American-run science news outlet running!
https://fundrazr.com/sustain-the-xylom/

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We grow science with words: the only Asian American-run science newsroom is independent, nonprofit, and led by Gen-Z! The Xylom needs to raise $7,500 in monthly recurring donations. Please help us go above and beyond!

06/29/2025

NEW: In a marathon, seven-hour rate case hearing Thursday, the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) weighed Georgia Power’s request to keep base consumer power rates frozen at their current level for three additional years.

The five-member PSC will likely vote to approve that request next week, which would extend the alternative rate plan that it approved in 2022 for the utility monopoly. That comes after the PSC has approved six rate increases implemented by Georgia Power since late 2022.

Unlike the 2022 plan, the proposed extension doesn’t include any pre-approved rate hikes, but there’s a catch. Georgia Power signaled it will file a separate rate case in 2026 to recover an estimated $860 million in storm costs, mostly due to Hurricane Helene, from its 2.7 million customers. It will also file a case to recover fuel costs from customers by February 2026. If the PSC agrees, that could further raise consumers’ power bills.

What’s more, if the PSC approves extending the 2022 alternative rate plan, Georgia Power will be allowed to defer certain costs for consideration for three years until its subsequent 2028 rate case.

This story is copublished by The Xylom and . Tap the link in the bio to read more.

06/25/2025

NEW: After the U.S. occupation of Iraq began in 2003, the U.S. military bombed Iraq’s national seed bank in Abu Ghraib, effectively eliminating hundreds of varieties of indigenous seeds adapted to growing in the drought-prone desert climate.

In 2004, U.S. colonial law prohibited Iraqi farmers from seed saving. The law, known as Order 81, effectively stripped farmers of their autonomy to pick the strongest seeds from their harvest, cross-pollinate them, and trade with other farmers to grow better or more suitable plants the following season.

Two decades later, through seed saving, the U.S.-based is working to bring extinct Iraqi vegetables back to life.

“I feel like I’m doing something meaningful to me,” said Rivka Ben Daniel, a Iraqi Jewish grower in Los Angeles. “I can connect with my roots in a meaningful way, which I was not able to do for most of my life.”

This story was first published by , an independent and nonprofit newsroom led by journalists of color. Tap the link in the bio to read more.

06/13/2025

According to recent estimates released by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, although an overwhelming majority of Georgians support climate-smart policies, such as energy efficiency subsidies and the adoption of clean energy, a much smaller majority would like their local officials to do more to address global warming.

However, for the first time in five years, Peach State voters get to make their voices heard by deciding whether to reelect two of its Public Service Commissioners.

The five-member board, currently represented entirely by Republicans, in large part determines how the state tackles the threats posed by climate change. Their decisions also affect whether Georgia’s power grid is prepared for extreme weather events and whether the state moves toward cleaner energy sources — or remains reliant on fossil fuels.

Early voting for the PSC primary is now underway. Read more from our colleague Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon of Atlanta Civic Circle about what's at stake: https://www.thexylom.com/post/explainer-what-s-at-stake-in-the-georgia-public-service-commission-s-upcoming-primary-elections

06/12/2025

As around 200 residents and advocates trickle into Portland Community Center on the evening of January 11th, 2024, they are greeted by a panel on a stage: Enbridge representatives to the left, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) lawyers and permitting staff behind another table on the right. Standing in the middle is moderator Brad Patterson from the TCEQ Office of the Chief Clerk.

Enbridge, the Canadian energy giant, is seeking a five-year renewal of the Federal Operating Permit of Ingleside Energy Center, the largest crude oil export terminal in the United States.

The decks were stacked against residents: TCEQ officials confirmed during an informal Q&A session that they have never denied a permit renewal, and certainly not one that controls nearly a quarter of the multibillion crude oil export industry. Most residents in Enbridge's proximity are not aware of the stakes either: The Xylom's was the only reporter present for the hearing.

A day before, Alex spoke with Tim Doty, a retired senior TCEQ official who is now speaking on behalf of residents along the Texas Coastal Bend. For decades, Doty was TCEQ’s mobile air monitoring manager, conducting and overseeing ambient air monitoring and environmental assessments at hundreds of industrial facilities.

Doty told The Xylom he couldn’t think of another geographic area in Texas undergoing such massive expansion as Ingleside on the Bay.
“When I came back in 2021, I was in disbelief. What was going on?”

This is the finale of a three-part series produced by The Xylom and co-published by Drilled Media, . Reporting of this story was supported by , and the Kelly-Douglas Fund at the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.

06/09/2025

In the household of Dipak Regmi, no one has burned petroleum-based fuels or firewood to cook in 18 years — all thanks to a nifty machine that converts human and livestock waste into fuel. 

In an agro-economy like Nepal, where more than half of all households raise livestock, biogas digesters were seen as a revolutionary way to tap into renewable energy, addressing the dual problems of waste management and electricity crisis. For families, it meant lighter expenses in the kitchen; for forests, a chance to breathe and stand tall.

Domestic biogas systems are widespread across Asian countries, and Nepal has been an advocate of this technology. But that reputation appears to be shifting: many poor families either can’t afford this technology or don’t own cattle to operate it.  “Households that are well-off are quick to acquire this new technology, whereas others are more reluctant,” said Dr Narayan Adhikari, deputy executive director at the Alternative Energy Promotion Center in Nepal. 

Tap the link in the bio to read more.

06/03/2025

Ingleside on the Bay, Texas has seen major Clean Air Act Violations, a 17-fold increase in toxic chemical risk, and even two oil spills, all in the last five years.

However, the county that the town belongs to does not have a single ambient air monitor which would allow residents, regulators, and elected officials to monitor commonly occurring air pollutants in real time such as ozone, particulate matter, and benzene, which have been shown to exacerbate nausea, asthma, and even cancer.

Every five years, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is required to submit an Ambient Air Network Assessment to comply with federal regulations. Yet, despite receiving criticism from the EPA Office of Inspector General for poor oversight and limited enforcement, the TCEQ did not recommend installing any monitors in San Patricio County.

You can contribute to the democratic process by submitting a public comment to the agency between now and June 30th. The agency will respond to your comment and consider it during the development of the next Annual Monitoring Network Plan.

Tap the link in the bio to get started.

06/02/2025

In partnership with the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY J-Corps program and with reader support, Jinger Zhang is joining us as our first summer newsroom intern.

Jinger is a business and economics reporter specializing in TV news. Originally from China, she covers how immigration and economic policies impact working-class communities, with a focus on immigrant labor and housing. The president of her school’s Asian American Journalists Association chapter, Jinger was awarded the 2025 Deadline Club Scholarship, recognizing her potential and excellence in journalism.

Jinger will investigate the rollout of New York's Empower+ home energy efficiency improvement program, the first in the nation to be funded by the Inflation Reduction Act's Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates program. Welcome, Jinger!

05/28/2025

NEW: So, how did Ingleside on the Bay, home to some of the most lavish homes in the Texas Coastal Bend area, turn into a fenceline community?

“I retired here right at the beginning of the embargo being lifted,” Coastal Watch Association President Charlie Boone recalls. “I came here to fish and play the guitar. I was having a good time.”

What Boone and others didn't fully understand at the time was the naval station next door had become prime real estate coveted by regional officials, Texas Republicans, and foreign energy companies. After orchestrating three land deals totaling over $100 million and the repeal of a 40-year federal crude oil export ban, the crude oil export arms race was on.

Since Boone moved in, Flint Hills has doubled Ingleside Terminal’s loading capacity and increased its storage capacity by 40%. Enbridge Ingleside Energy Center has had five expansions, bringing the number of oil tanks to 36, with five more under construction. Three more crude oil pipelines were built between 2019 and 2020, bringing the total to five. Finally, what became Gibson's South Texas Gateway Terminal was placed in service in July 2020, and completed final construction in 2021.

“It used to be that we would be out here, and one [oil tanker] would go by every four days. We’re like, ‘Oh, look!’,” Boone described. “It’s 10 a day or more, just back and forth, back and forth.”

Ingleside on the Bay residents neither got a say in all of this, nor did they get to share the wealth. But they now have to deal with the environmental health impacts on a daily basis.

This is the second story of a three-part series produced by The Xylom and co-published by Drilled Media, , and . Reporting of this story was supported by , , and the Kelly-Douglas Fund at the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.

05/26/2025

Just four days after the January 6th, 2024, oil spill at Flint Hills Ingleside, Lynne Porter is back on the road.

Porter, at the time just weeks away from retiring from her position as the Assistant Superintendent of the Ingleside, Texas, Independent School District and joining the board of the grassroots environmental nonprofit group Coastal Watch Association, has been a runner all her life.

However, it's been harder and harder for her to keep up her usual pace. Since moving to Ingleside on the Bay, Texas, which would become the Crude Oil Export Capital of the United States, she has to rely on an inhaler to get through her day.

It's not just Porter: her 600-odd neighbors are seeing their way of life gradually chipped away by out-of-country oil and gas corporations taking advantage of the town's proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, generous subsidies, and officials willing to look the other way. They are terrified by the prospect of a "major mishap" — one that they know they are unprepared for, and could leave their children dead.

“That’s the thing with this industry.” Suzi Wilder, a City Alderman, told The Xylom. “They’re not out to protect this town.”

This is the first story of a three-part series produced by The Xylom and co-published by Drilled Media, , and . Reporting of this story was supported by , , and the Kelly-Douglas Fund at the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.

05/25/2025

On Jan. 6th, 2024, nine minutes before midnight, the police department in Ingleside, Texas, uploaded on Facebook a now-deleted public advisory about a local oil spill.

“Flint Hills-INGLESIDE is reporting a release at one of their tanks. They have reported that it is all contained onsite — but the odor is pretty strong.”

Overnight, the roughly 700 members of Facebook group Citizens of the City of Ingleside on the Bay were whipped into a frenzy. This is a group that usually posts about scavenger hunts, Girl Scout cookie sales, and carpenter requests. But this is the second oil spill they had to deal with in a year.

With 614 residents, Ingleside on the Bay, Texas, has a front-row seat to the north shore of Corpus Christi Bay, which Mount Rushmore sculptor Gutzon Borglum described as “the most beautiful bay on the Texas coast.” Until recently, residents could squint on a good day and see the skyline of Corpus Christi, the self-proclaimed “Gulf Coast Capital” with over 300,000 residents, ten miles across the Bay.

Our Publisher and Editor, Alex Ip, spent three years looking into how this small, white, conservative town in Texas became America's Crude Oil Export Capital. Does Ingleside on the Bay's story exist just as a cautionary tale, or does it also offer lessons of resilience and hope?

This is the first story of a three-part series produced by The Xylom and co-published by Drilled Media, . Reporting of this story was supported by , and the Kelly-Douglas Fund at the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.

05/08/2025

Half a century ago, the TAZARA Railway opened for reasons as practical as they were symbolic: to allow two newly independent African countries to shuttle crucial mineral resources and passengers to the Indian Ocean, bypassing apartheid South Africa and white-minority ruled Zimbabwe (then known as Rhodesia.)

Decades of neglect later, the Chinese-funded railway is poised for a renaissance, but colonial superpowers, East and West, are again vying to assert their influence across Africa. This time, it's metals that could power an electric transition.

Our Editor-at-Large Kang-Chun Cheng (.north) took the 1,852-kilometer-long railway from the coastal city of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania all the way into the Copperbelt to dig deep into how Zambians find themselves amidst all of the jostling.

Reporting for this story is supported by the . and Theresa Ndovie contributed reporting to the story.