Media Center

Coalition Files Lawsuit to Safeguard Kern Communities from Flawed Oil & Gas Drilling Amendment

December 10, 2015 Press ReleaseCalifornia

Bakersfield, CA — A broad coalition of community and conservation groups sued Kern County today for passing a new local law intended to bypass environmental review for oil and gas projects. The new county ordinance, sponsored by the oil industry…

Tar Sands Are Trouble! National Academy of Science Study Skewers Diluted Bitumen

December 8, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 8, 2015) – The National Academy of Sciences today released a study on diluted bitumen (or “dilbit”), a raw form of tar sands oil making its way across North America in increasing volumes, that supports alarm bells…

Robert Redford and Indigenous Leaders, Artists Speak Out on Climate

December 6, 2015 Press Release

PARIS (December 6, 2015) –Robert Redford and indigenous artists, activists and storytellers from across the globe took the stage today during the international climate talks in Paris at UNESCO to share captivating stories about precious places threatened by climate change…

U.S. House Votes to Take Our Nation’s Energy Policy in the Wrong Direction

December 3, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (December 3, 2015) – The House today passed an energy bill filled with outdated energy policies that continue to favor the fossil fuel industry above all other priorities. The bill would lift the ban on crude oil exports, allow…

EPA Asks Court To Nix Pesticide Linked to Butterfly Decline

November 25, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (November 25, 2015) — The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reversed course and yesterday asked a federal court to remove Dow AgroSciences’ Enlist Duo from the market. NRDC sued EPA last year to challenge the agency’s approval of Enlist Duo…

NRDC Reaction to Proposed Slaughter of Yellowstone Bison

November 19, 2015 Press Release

BOZEMAN, MT (November 19, 2015) -- Following is a statement from Matt Skoglund, Director of the Northern Rockies Office at the Natural Resources Defense Council, in response to the proposal made under the Interagency Bison Management Plan to kill roughly…

Yellowstone Grizzly Bear is among Nation’s Top Isolated Wildlife

November 18, 2015 Press Release

Washington, D.C. (November 18, 2015)– The Yellowstone grizzly bear population suffers from increasingly fragmented and disconnected habitats, according to a new report released today by the Endangered Species Coalition, which highlights ten rare or endangered species that lack safe, navigable…

Report: Unchecked Energy Development Threatens Wildlife, Hunting, and Tourism in Montana and Wyoming

November 17, 2015 Press Release

BOZEMAN, MT (November 17, 2015) – Hundreds of coal mining and oil and natural gas projects in the Powder River Basin area of Wyoming and Montana are destroying the habitat of some of the West’s most beloved wildlife – including…

Residents of Flint, Michigan, to Sue City, State over Lead in Drinking Water

November 16, 2015 Press Release

CHICAGO – Residents of Flint, Mich., together with the ACLU of Michigan and the Natural Resources Defense Council, today announced their intention to sue state and city officials for ongoing violations of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act amid the…

Northern Gateway No More - Controversial Tar Sands Pipeline Denied

November 13, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (November 13, 2015) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s federal government is following through on an election promise to ban crude oil tanker traffic off the coast of northern British Columbia. This announcement will effectively kill the Northern Gateway…

Obama Administration Announces Landmark Plan for Conservation and Renewable Energy Development in California’s Mojave Desert

November 10, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (November 10, 2015) — The Department of Interior today released a milestone plan for conservation and renewable energy development on public lands in California’s Mojave Desert.

Illegal Diversion of Water Threatens to End Chinook Salmon Survival in California

November 10, 2015 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SAN FRANCISCO (November 10, 2015) – Environmental groups filed a request yesterday to supplement their complaint against the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and growers who flood irrigate rice in the Sacramento Valley for mismanaging water supplies that should have been…

Southern Forests at Risk: New Report Identifies Three Southern Forest Regions in Immediate Crosshairs of Wood Pellet Industry

October 19, 2015 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (October 20, 2015) – A new report released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) reveals the imminent threat from the burgeoning wood pellet industry on three fragile forest ecosystems in the U.S. Southeast. Innovative GIS mapping…

Victory for the Arctic as Lease Sales are Cancelled

October 16, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (October 16, 2015) – The Obama administration announced Friday it would cancel proposed auctions for drilling rights in the Arctic waters off the coast of Alaska for 2016 and 2017.

Clean Water Rule Decision Delays Enforcement but Reinforces Need for Protections

October 9, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (October 9, 2015) – A federal court decision handed down today temporarily delays enforcement of the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Clean Water Rule, which guarantees pollution protections for tens of millions of acres…

Court Rules that EPA Failed to Protect U.S. Waters from Aquatic Invasive Species

October 6, 2015 Press Release

ANN ARBOR, MICH. (October 5, 2015) – In a unanimous 3-0 decision that has ramifications for waters across the country—from Long Island Sound to the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico to San Francisco Bay—the U.S. Court of Appeals…

Shell's Decision to Halt Arctic Drilling Is Good News For Our Climate

September 28, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (September 28, 2015) — Royal Dutch Shell's decision to halt oil drilling in the Arctic, after its exploratory well failed to yield enough oil and gas to make its mission worth the tremendous risk and cost, is a watershed…

Report: Revitalizing Chicago’s Waterways Could Enrich Communities and Rebuff Invasive Species

September 23, 2015 Press Release

CHICAGO (September 23, 2015) – A new report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) highlights the need for investment in the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS) to revitalize its economic value, enrich communities and rebuff the advance of invasive…

Environmental Groups Petition EPA to Make Polluters Pay for LA Water Contamination

September 18, 2015 Press Release

LOS ANGELES (September 17, 2015) — American Rivers, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Los Angeles Waterkeeper petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency today to make polluters accountable for stormwater runoff contamination of two Los Angeles waterways: the Dominguez Channel and the…

Senate Resolution against Clean Water Protections Puts Polluters before People

September 18, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (September 18, 2015) — Senate Republicans have launched a concerted effort to repeal the Clean Water Rule, introducing a resolution under the Congressional Review Act, which allows faster consideration of Congressional efforts to block regulations. The Clean Water Rule…