Media Center

Scientific Review Supports New Clean Water Protections

January 15, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (January 15, 2015)— A new scientific report showing that small streams and wetlands can affect downstream water quality and help supply drinking water to millions of Americans is further evidence that these water bodies need protection from pollution, the…

Supreme Court Allows Scientifically Sound Protections for California’s Bay-Delta Estuary to Stand

January 12, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON (January 12, 2015) – The Supreme Court today let stand a federal plan to protect California’s vital Delta ecosystem. The Court refused to hear an appeal brought by agribusinesses trying to undermine protections for the Delta smelt under the…

Making a Killing: California Ivory Sales Largely Illegal, Contributing to Recent Rise in African Elephant Poaching

January 7, 2015 Press Release

SAN FRANCISCO (January 7, 2015) – Every 15 minutes, an African elephant is killed for its tusks. And some of that ivory ends up right here on store shelves in California. According to a report commissioned by the Natural Resources…

Ninth Circuit Court Upholds Protections for California’s Endangered Salmon

December 22, 2014 Press Release

Some of California’s most endangered fish – and the fishermen that rely on salmon for their livelihoods – got a helping hand from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today, which released its opinion in the case of San Luis…

EPA Coal Ash Rule Fails to Protect Public Health and Waterways

December 19, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (December 19, 2014)—The Environmental Protection Agency’s long-awaited rule on disposal of toxic ash from coal-burning power plants falls far short of what’s needed to protect the public and our waterways from the millions of tons of dangerous sludge that…

Environmentalists Sue to Protect Water Quality

December 19, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (December 19, 2014)— The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Environmental Defense Center (EDC) today announced they have sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to strengthen standards to prevent pollution from stormwater, one of the nation’s most widespread…

NRDC Lauds Obama Drilling Ban in Alaska’s Spectacular Bristol Bay

December 16, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (December 16, 2014)—The Natural Resources Defense Council today welcomed the decision by President Obama to withdraw permanently Alaska’s Bristol Bay from offshore oil development. Bristol Bay supports the world’s largest salmon fishery, worth $1.5 billion per year, and is…

Deep-Sea Discovery: Atlantic Coast Ocean Canyons Teeming with Newfound Marine Life and over 40 Species of Vibrant Deep-sea Coral

December 9, 2014 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (December 9, 2014) -- Recent National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-led explorations into deep undersea canyons off the East Coast have uncovered a steady stream of scientific discoveries, including over 40 different species of corals, some potentially brand…

REPORT: EPA Can Quickly Cut Dangerous Methane Pollution from Oil and Gas Industry in Half

November 20, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (November 20, 2014) — A new report from leading climate advocates today shows how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can cut climate warming methane pollution in half, while dramatically reducing harmful, wasteful air pollution from the oil and…

House GOP Continues Its Anti-Science Campaign

November 19, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (November 19, 2014)—House Republicans continued their attack on science-based protections for public health and the environment today, passing on a largely party-line vote a bill that would bar the Environmental Protection Agency from using certain peer-reviewed health research when…

Feds Protect Vast Majority of George Washington National Forest from Oil & Gas Development

November 18, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (November 18, 2014) —The U.S. Forest Service today released a management plan that protects the vast majority of Virginia’s George Washington National Forest from oil and gas development.

Clean Water Proposal Will Help Families, Homeowners Get Safe Drinking Water

November 17, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (November 17, 2014)—A proposed new clean water rule will help ensure Americans have safe drinking water by closing a critical gap in the country’s pollution laws, the Natural Resources Defense Council said.

Craft Brewers Support EPA Bolstering Protections for American Waters—And Beer!

November 14, 2014 Press Release

CHICAGO (November 14, 2014) – Some of the nation’s most respected and beloved breweries weighed in on the national debate over clean water protections today. Thirty-two members of the “Brewers for Clean Water” campaign signed onto a comment letter in…

Federal Court Tosses Shell Oil Company’s Preemptive Suit Against Environmental Groups

November 12, 2014 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SAN FRANCISCO (November 12, 2014) – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected today a Shell Gulf of Mexico Inc. and Shell Offshore Inc. lawsuit that attempted to prevent environmental groups from challenging its oil drilling plans…

NRDC’s “Exaggerator” Video Takes on Polluters’ Wild Claims about Proposed Clean Water Rule

November 12, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (November 12, 2014) – The Natural Resources Defense Council launched a video campaign today taking a comic jab at big corporate polluters’ hyperbolic claims about the proposed Clean Water Protection Rule, which is intended to restore protections for waterways…

Organizations Deliver Comments to EPA from more than 700,000 Americans Who Support Clean Water

October 22, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (October 22, 2014) – More than 700,000 Americans have written to support a plan to protect streams and wetlands nationwide that are vulnerable to pollution, and today a diverse coalition of conservation organizations and clean water advocates delivered their…

NRDC Sues EPA to Block New Pesticide That Threatens Monarch Butterflies, Human Health

October 15, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (October 15, 2014)—The Natural Resources Defense Council today filed suit to block the use of a powerful, newly approved weed killer that will wreak further destruction on monarch butterfly populations already devastated by agricultural chemicals and poses risks to…

Obama’s San Gabriel Monument Designation a Good Step Toward a Lasting Conservation Legacy

October 10, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (October 10, 2014) – With today’s planned declaration of Los Angeles’ San Gabriel Mountains as a national monument, President Obama is providing permanent federal protection for the area’s towering peaks, mature forests and dramatic waterfalls, which retain much of…

Additional Opportunity to Provide Input on Critical Clean Water Proposal

October 6, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (October 6, 2014)—The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers today extended for a second time, until November 14, the public comment period on the proposed Clean Water Protection rule, which would restore Clean Water Act…

Expanded Pacific Marine Reserve Protects Critically Important Sea Life

September 24, 2014 Press Release

President Obama will expand the Pacific Remote Islands National Marine Monument, southwest of Hawaii, putting under protection large new areas of ocean with some of the richest and most diverse sea life on the planet. The original 83,000-square mile monument…